


Strangers like me

by bmovies212



Category: Tarzan - All Media Types, Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Champ exists, Doc's his natural age if he didn't die in 1889, F/F, F/M, Family Loss, Loss, also Nicole's naked, maybe sorta bad guy Doc, parents death, some violence but not sure what TWs to put
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:46:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 39,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27402976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bmovies212/pseuds/bmovies212
Summary: Hi, guys. This was inspired by a Twitter post AU collage made by lostgirl966. I've got most of it planned out already. The main thrust of it is from the Disney movie, but I've tried to include a few things from other sources just to keep it interesting.
Relationships: Nicole Haught & Randy Nedley, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 70
Kudos: 84





	1. Wrecked

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lostgirl966](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostgirl966/gifts).



> Hi, guys. This was inspired by a Twitter post AU collage made by lostgirl966. I've got most of it planned out already. The main thrust of it is from the Disney movie, but I've tried to include a few things from other sources just to keep it interesting.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Off the western coast of 19th century Africa....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! It's been a minute since I wrote something. This came to me in a flash when I was looking at some tweet collage prompts on lostgirl966's Twitter page, which you should definitely check out. I'll include the link to the one that really inspired me to seriously write this, but they're all great and if your stuck for an idea, maybe use one of those? At any rate, thanks to her, so this fic is done in her name https://twitter.com/toodarnhaught/status/1321852599730098179?s=19
> 
> Also some thanks to LoneWolfWriter, who helped reassure me about a potentially awkward scene at the end of the first chapter. Check out her stuff as well.
> 
> Finally, this is mainly following the Disney movie (which I havent seen in some time, admittedly), but I'll also be using a few other things I found in other adaptations. It's the standard rule -- for what's right, thank everyone I just said; for what's wrong, blame me.
> 
> Here we go!

_1886_

_Off the coast of Africa_

The storm tossed the boat fiercely from wave to wave. It had come in out of nowhere two hours ago and since then had battered the ship and her crew without mercy. They had already been blown off course, and the captain was concerned that if things didn't change for the better soon, then ship and crew and passengers alike would all be bound for Davy Jones' locker.

In the main cabin, Nathaniel Thomas Haught, the current lord of Greystroke manor, cursed both his luck and his pride. This was supposed to be a simple excursion to check on his holdings on the African subcontinent. There had been rumblings of insurrection among the workers, andhis man in charge had sent word that, while he _might_ be able to handle things himself, he would feel much more comfortable if his employer could make the trip from England and help to assuage the natives.

Initially, Nathaniel had been more than willing to make the trip. It was a necessary part of business, and such excursions were often necessary. When he had broached the subject with Jacqueline, though, and she insisted on accompanying him, he began to realize the overlooked flaw in his thinking. His wife had been nearly eight months pregnant and in his opinion was in no condition to travel. Unfortunately, she had her own opinions on the matter…

_"Jacqueline," he had said pleadingly, "be reasonable. Our child will be born within the month. You need to stay here, where it's safe._

_"Not a chance," said Jacqueline, her flaming red hair matched in hue by her temper. Her French accent becoming even more pronounced than normal "Both this child and I will need the father. What if she comes early? What if something goes wrong with the pregnancy? What if something happens to you, either on the voyage or down…._ there? _What if--"_

_"She?" Nathaniel grinned, his brown eyes suddenly filled with warmth. "My dear, I believe this is the first time you've expressed a gender for our baby."_

_Jacqueline blushed and looked at her extended belly. "Well….I can dream."_

_"You can," said Nathaniel gently, kneeling next to his wife and taking her hand. "And I swear, those dreams will come true. My only dream is for you and..._ her _...to remain here, safe."_

_Jacqueline sighed and crossed to the window, looking over the sprawling grounds that made up Nathaniel's ancestral home of Greystroke Manor. "We wouldn't be safe, though….not without you."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"If something were to happen to you...what would happen to us? We might not know for ages, and by the time we did…"_

_Nathaniel frowned. "Are you worried about one of my partners staging a coup? That drunkard Earp, or…"_

_"No….yes….I don't know…" She raised her hands in frustration and turned to look at him. "The point is, we wouldn't know, and that waiting to find out would kill me."_

_Nathaniel rose and joined her at the window. "You truly wish to come?"_

_"I do."_

_"And there is nothing I can say that will convince you to remain?"_

_"Of course not."_

_Haught chuckled. "No, I don't suppose there would be…" He exhaled deeply. "You'll have to listen to me. The continent is a dangerous place, not like here. Most of the natives are well-behaved enough, but the wildlife--"_

_Jacqueline gasped and turned. "So we can come?"_

_Nathaniel sighed but smiled as he turned to his wife. "You may."_

_Jacqueline squealed and wrapped her husband in a hug. "Oh, thank you, Nathaniel!" She kissed him deeply and was then off. "We'll need to pack. We'll have to bring blankets, and nursing clothes, and some books to read to them--"_

_She gasped and stopped moving. Concerned, Nathaniel stepped forward. "Jacqueline?" he asked. "What is it?"_

_His wife turned and guided his hand to her stomach. "She's kicking."_

_As if on cue, Nathaniel felt a push outward beneath his palm, as his child fought against its container._ Soon, little one, _he thought. "She's a strong one."_

_His wife smiled, her eyes full of love. "She is." She chewed her lip and then said, almost shyly, "I thought of a name."_

_Nathaniel's eyebrows raised. "Have you?"_

_"Well…two names, but one, depending on whether they're a girl or a boy."_

_"And what are they?"_

_Jacqueline held his hand. "I had thought perhaps a French name. It's Grecian in origin, but...well, a good translation to English would be 'victory of the people'."_

_"Nothing big to live up to, then," joked Nathaniel. "And what are these names?"_

  
  
  
  
  


"Nathaniel!"

Nathaniel turned and immediately was at his wife's side. "Stay calm, Jacqueline. The captain will see us through this. We just have to--"

A shudder ran through the vessel, shaking it hard enough to make Nathaniel's teeth rattle. A bolt of thunder sounded close enough for him to feel it inside, followed by a loud crash as something fell on the main deck. He gestured for her to stay where she was and opened the door to the poop deck.

The wind outside roared and ripped the door from his hands. He heard Jacqueline scream something behind him but again gestured for her to stay. Charging forward, he went into the storm and yelled for the captain. "Dolls!" he shouted. "Where are you, man?"

"Here, sir!" Nathaniel looked up and saw the dark-skinned captain next to what looked like a part of the mast. The sailor turned and shouted to his crew, "Get those lines under control!" That done, the sailor pulled Nathaniel back under the relative safety of the poop deck. "The ship is lost, sir. We need to abandon. Get your wife and--"

"We can't just abandon, Dolls! We could be miles from land, weeks from civilization! We--"

"We will _die_ , sir, unless we leave this craft right now!" Somewhere above them, one of the men screamed amidst the pouring rain, and Dolls closed his eyes in sympathy. When he opened them again, there was fire in them. "The two most fore lifeboats have torn free already, but the remaining ones should still be attached. I don't care how pregnant that woman of yours is -- if you have _any_ love for her, you'll get her in a skiff quick as you can and get away."

Dolls clapped him on the shoulder and ran off. Nathaniel stood there for a moment, uncertain. Jacqueline screamed his name from inside, and that got him moving. He threw open the door. "Jacqueline! We have to--"

"She's coming," said his wife without preamble. Nathaniel saw the stains on his wife's clothes and instantly recognized them for what they meant. Without wasting time, he ran across the room and grabbed some rope from a chest. Working quickly and trying to shut out his wife's cries, he tied one end tightly around his waist and the other across her chest. "Apologies, my love," he said with as much kindness as he could. He double checked the tightness of the knots and nodded. "Can you walk?"

"I….I don't…" Jacqueline stared up at him with terror in her eyes, and without hesitation he bent over and scooped her up in his arms. "Whatever happens, do _not_ let go of the rope, do you understand?" She nodded, and Nathaniel carried her out into the storm. 

Outside, the situation had gotten worse. The deck was empty of all crew and fire had started spreading. _If that reaches the powder…_ Nathaniel cut the thought off before it could take full shape. _One problem at a time._ He carried Jacqueline to the rear of the ship and thankfully saw one boat left, the rest of the crew already away. "Thank heavens," he said. Holding his wife close, he made for their salvation and placed her into it as she screamed in pain again. "Nathaniel…"

"I know, darling." He quickly untied the rope from his waist and looped it under one of the seats in the lifeboat. "Remember...hold on." Jacqueline nodded, water in her eyes from either the pain or the rain. _God in heaven above, if there is any mercy in you, be with us now._ Nathaniel stepped back and began manning the winch to lower the boat into the sea. Something exploded behind him, and he felt a wave of heat across his back. Ignoring it, he continued operating the winch until it would turn no more. Stepping to the edge of the deck, he saw Jacqueline frantically trying to untie the rope from one end of the boat so they could detach. _Good girl_ , he thought proudly. He tensed his knees, and--

A second explosion shook the boat and he felt himself falling briefly before stopping against something hard. A gasp alerted him to the fact that against all odds, he had landed in the lifeboat, relatively uninjured. "Nathaniel!" Jacqueline shouted. "Are you alright?"

"Are we clear?" he shouted back. Jacqueline's eyes widened and she turned back to her rope at the front of the lifeboat as Nathaniel went to work on the one at the rear. "Clear!", he heard her shout just as his rope slipped free of its moorings. Without a second to spare, Nathaniel grabbed the oars and started rowing as fast as he was able.

Behind them, the ship exploded one final time. Debris began raining down around them, and for a few brief seconds the night was lit up like the middle of the day. Beside him, Jaqueline was gesturing wildly. " _Land!_ " 

" _What?_ " She pointed again, and Nathaniel saw, not half a mile away, just beyond where their former home had capsized, the coastline of Africa. With a will, he fixed the destination in his mind and turned their vessel towards it, making sure to keep his back to the destination and his front towards the fire. _Please, my Lord…..just a little longer…_

  
  
  
  
  


The storm was dying down now, and Jacqueline had her eyes closed in silent prayers. One for all the sailors who may have died or gone missing when their ship exploded; one for the weather to abate some, which was seemingly being answered; one to give her husband strength as he fought the ocean to bring them to safety; one for her, that _she_ would be strong enough to contain what was happening until they reached the shore; and one for their child, that he or she would be strong enough to survive their horrid first night on this Earth.

She felt a bump beneath her as the boat hit the shore and screamed again. "Nathaniel….she's coming," she said weakly, trying to remain as composed as possible. Another bolt of pain lanced through her, and she let out a cry. 

"Hold on, darling," he said, the worry in his voice obvious. He gently lifted her out of the boat and laid her on the wet sand. She whimpered again as he set her down and then heard a tearing sound as he ripped apart her skirt. His face appeared before her, and remarkably, he was grinning. "Apologies, wife. We can fix--"

"Just...catch her," she panted out. He nodded and went back below, and less than a minute later heard him cry out, "I can see the head!" She clenched her muscles and _pushed_ , with all her strength. "Nearly there, darling! She's almost out! One more go!" She screamed and pushed again, and heard a squelching _pop_ , followed by….silence. 

Jacqueline waited, but there was no sound except for the wind and the gentle fall of the rain, with an occasional crack of thunder as the storm moved down the coast. "Nathaniel?" she asked, not sure what answer she wanted. He didn't answer her, instead keeping his gaze focused on the quiet bundle in his arms. "Nathaniel, please….is she--"

A tiny cough sounded, followed by crying. A sound between a gasp and a laugh emerged from Jacqueline. Nathaniel turned and raised the crying bundle proudly. "You were right," he said. "She's a girl."

Jacqueline held out her hands and Nathaniel approached slowly, making sure to keep his daughter's head raised. As she took the child, Jacqueline could already see a light red fuzz atop her head. "Shh, baby. Shush…" She held the child close to her chest, and the crying began to taper off. Jacqueline could only stare at her...wide brown eyes; a mouth that seemed big now but which she'd undoubtedly grow into; a narrow but prominent nose. "She's perfect," said Jacqueline.

Nathaniel smiled. "You both are." He kissed her and held his wife close, determined to keep them warm. "Jacqueline...the ship….the storm...they may never find us."

"That's alright. We'll figure out a way to survive, just like her."

"Our little hero…" Nathaniel took the infant's hand and felt his finger get examined and gripped by something small and powerful. "Seems she's something of an explorer herself."

"She's our prize," said Jacqueline confidently. "Our reward for surviving."

"Then I guess we'll have to keep doing that," answered Nathan. "Then she really will be the victory of the people."

"She'll be everything," Jacqueline cooed. "Our beautiful little Nicole."

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Nicole's name really does mean 'victory of the people's. It's a French derivative compound of the Greek words for 'victory' and 'people'. You have no idea how happy it made me to find that out.


	2. Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living in the jungle proves full of both triumph and difficulty.....

The mother smiled down at her offspring as it crawled about on all fours. Although it was late at night, the youngling was as active as if it had been midday. Despite her tiredness, all she wanted was to keep watching the little one.

"<Are you still up, Kala?>" her mate grunted behind her.

The big gorilla sighed and favored Rendal with a tired glare. "<Only because someone thought it would be a good idea to give dear Chrisee all the bananas in the jungle before bed.>"

Rendal rolled over and regarded her, his brow furrowed. His brow was usually furrowed, but he and Kala had been mated for long enough that she could tell one furrow from another as easily as a fish could tell a safe current from a wrong one. This particular furrow, fortunately, meant he was tired but loved his family too much to force them to sleep. "<That was _your_ idea, as I recall.>"

"<I never said it wasn't,>" teased Kala.

The large silverback grunted and reluctantly rose, joining his wife in watching their daughter. Although, only a couple moons old, she already seemed to have a natural talent for drawing attention to herself. In time, she could grow to be a great adviser, giving good counsel to any who sought her out.

Chrisee crawled up to him and stuck out her tongue before letting out a tiny roar. Rendall chuckled. However good a counselor she might be in the future, here, on this night, with the rains retreating once more, she was still a little child, barely bigger than his paw. 

The thunder rumbled loudly….closer than Rendal would have figured. "<That was loud,>" he said, handing Chrisee to his mate. 

Kala sighed. For as good as her mate was, there were times she wished he worried a _little_ less. "<It's nothing. The storm above the water, going out to sea.>"

"Then where was the light?" he asked. Before she could answer, there was a second louder crack, followed by a flash of light the color of the orangutans that sometimes took their fruit. Rendal tracked the source of the light and his eyes widened. "<The water….the big light is in the water.>"

"<How?>" asked Kala.

Rendal couldn't answer that, so he merely said, "<Get Chrisee. Alert the rest of the troop. We're leaving.>" 

"<Now?>" said Kala. "<Half of them will be asleep. Couldn't we at least wait until light?>"

"<The light is here already,>" Rendal replied. "<And given how it's decided to come from the ground so much earlier than normal, I'm not sure if us waiting for its brother is the wisest course.>"

The first night there was difficult. There was no disputing that. With no timepieces on hand, the three humans (or at least, the two that had knowledge of such a thing as time) would be hard-pressed to say how long after making land they fell asleep, how long they slept for, or what time they woke up. Between their lack of knowledge and complete exhaustion from the previous night's events, they couldn't even judge how long they had been stranded, in addition to the more pertinent concepts of where they where, who might be looking for them, or what they were going to do now.

Jacqueline looked from her newborn daughter to her husband. "We'll need to find shelter somewhere. And food."

Nathaniel nodded. "Shelter first. This lifeboat might do for a night or two, but long term…

Jacqueline shuddered at his word choice. "If nothing else, we need to get off the beach." She stood and saw something in the distance. "Nathaniel, look."

Nathaniel turned and followed her gaze. Above them stood a tree of absurd thickness, its size defying its precarious position. From where they stood on the beach, it looked to be at least a full day's hike away. He looked back at his wife. "Stay here." 

Jacqueline nearly choked. "Stay? Nathaniel--"

Nathaniel held up a hand to slow her anger. "We don't know how far a journey it is or what obstacles we might face. I'll scout ahead and come back by nightfall. You stay here and take care of Nicole. Don't forget...you're still a nursing mother."

He could tell that Jacqueline wanted to argue this point, but her eyes fell to Nicole. "I...alright."

He stepped closer to her and kissed her once, on the forehead. "I _will_ return, I swear it." And with that, he was gone.

What felt like an hour later, Nathaniel found himself wishing for a sword. The vegetation, while passable, was extremely thick -- a fact which slowed his progress considerably. Not only did it decrease his pace, it also made judging how far away the noises he heard were. A bird cry could be coming from any of a hundred directions and locations. That rustling could be the wind or some unknown beast. That unknown beast could be as harmless as a squirrel or a fierce--

 _Focus!_ , he screamed at himself. Neither Jacqueline nor little Nicole would benefit from him working himself into a panic over the unknowable. From this point on, they were at the mercy of God and the fates, and all he could do was pray and trust. They had been kind so far, letting them all survive these first hours, but at any moment, that could change. 

So telling himself, Nathaniel pushed forward against the latest wall of plants and found himself blinded by the sudden light. He raised his hand to his eyes and, once his vision cleared, saw that he had arrived, after a fashion. He was at the top of a small hill, still fairly close to the coast, and before him, less than a mile distant, was the giant of a tree he and Jacqueline had seen from the beach. It stood at least fifty feet tall if it was an inch, and while the upper branches had a large amount of foliage, the lower were plentiful enough and low enough that a determined enough individual could use them as handholds or even, if said individual had the right materials, construct a rudimentary set of stairs or a ladder leading to the upper branches. From there, it would be a relatively simple matter of clearing enough branches away and…

Nathaniel frowned. _Clearing with what?_ He patted his clothing in desperation, hoping against hope, and nearly gasped when he felt actual cold steel against his leg. Looking down, he saw a tiny dagger, barely a foot from handle to tip and forgotten in all the excitement of the past day. "Stupid hopeful fool…" he chastised himself with a laugh. Turning to a nearby tree covered with vines, he selected a low branch and began sawing back and forth with the blade. Seconds later, the branch fell and Nathaniel let out a bark of triumph. "Okay, then…" he said. "That's a start."

Emboldened, he looked again at the tree, examining it more closely. It was tall, true, but the base was relatively thin and covered in vines. _Maybe..._ He stuck the knife in his belt and began climbing. The ascent was surprisingly easy, and he soon found himself in the lower branches of the tree, more than twelve feet off the ground. He saw a thick branch to his right and placed his right foot on it experimentally, and the branch held. Bracing himself, Nathaniel shifted until he could place both feet on the branch. Still holding onto the rope-thick vines surrounding the tree, Nathaniel crouch-jumped, shaking the branch.

A loud _crack_ sounded, and Nathaniel felt himself falling. He reached out for something, anything, and felt his hand close around a loose vine. Something shifted, and suddenly he was swinging through the air in a circle as the vine unraveled from the tree it had surrounded for God knew how long. A scream exited his mouth as he completed his arc around the tree and he let go, flying through the air before crashing into the ground with a thud.

Nathaniel groaned and got to his feet, his head swimming. In front of him, the vine dangled mockingly, its thickness daring him to use it again. Despite the trip he had just taken, he couldn't deny its usefulness. Something that thick and agile would definitely be useful, and combined with the abundance of wood and material around him…

He nodded. While they were by no means safe, there was definitely some hope now. He turned and began the journey back down the hill.

"That's right. Grab hold…." Jacqueline smiled as Nicole's mouth almost instinctively latched on to her exposed teat. The child began greedily sucking the nourishing milk from Jacqueline's breast as she held her close, thankful that Nicole didn't seem to need much guidance or instruction. Some mothers she'd spoken to back home complained that their children almost never took the first time, but for whatever reason, Nicole took to this as natural as breathing.

"Quiet, a natural drinker, strong….how did we get so lucky with you, Nicole?" In response, Nicole let go of Jacqueline's breast and struggled. Jacqueline knew what she needed and held the infant to her shoulder, patting her back softly, and a moment later a soft burp sounded from Nicole's mouth.

"There, that's better, isn't it?" said Jacqueline. Nicole gurgled what Jacqueline assumed was agreement and stared up at her. "Don't worry...your father will be back soon, and when he returns, he'll have a plan. He always does."

Something sounded behind her, and Jacqueline turned to see a seagull pecking at something. Calmly, Jacqueline approached the bird. The animal squawked once and took off, and Jacqueline saw a small box….one she recognized as having been on the ship. "Nicole...look." She shifted the child to show her discovery. "This was on our boat." Nicole seemed unimpressed and was more interested in playing with her mother's hair, but Jacqueline persisted. "Do you think there's anything useful inside?

Nicole didn't answer, but Jacqueline felt sure she meant to say, "Yes, dear mother! Open it, however you can!" Not wanting to disappoint her only child, Jacqueline looked around the beach and saw nothing but the boat they had come in on. 

"Hmm…" said Jacqueline. She walked back to the lifeboat and began rummaging inside it. There was a small compartment towards the back, and Jacqueline opened it. Inside was a length of rope, some flares, a logbook, and…

"Yes!" Someone -- probably some industrious or lazy crewman -- had had the foresight (or negligence) to store a small toolbox in the lifeboat. Whatever they might have been thinking doing so, Jacqueline couldn't say, but she was now glad they had. She opened it and saw a hammer, a sawblade, some nails, and a chisel. Thanking all the gods, she grabbed the hammer and went back to the box that had washed ashore. "Okay, Nicole….this may be a little tricky, but…" Jacqueline positioned the claw end of the hammer near the crack in the top and slowly pushed upward.

At first, the opening didnt move. Jacqueline sighed and tried shifting her weight, not wanting to put Nicole down on the sandy shore. Nicole let out a tiny cry and Jacqueline came to a decision. She sat herself down and crossed her legs, placing Nicole carefully between her knees. "It's just for a minute, dearest." She quickly undid her top and removed her shirt, leaving her in skirt and camisole. Although Nicole fussed some, she refrained from crying as Jacqueline knotted the shirt and top into a carrier for Nicole, one big enough that she could even use it as a rough bed if needed. 

"There we are," said Jacqueline. "Now…" She laid her invention on the sand beside her and, whispering softly to Nicole, said, "I'm right over there. Don't worry." Jacqueline kissed Nicole's forehead and went back to the crate, hammer in hand. Now with both hands free, she stuck the hammer back in the opening and pulled with all her might. The lid still resisted, but then she felt the smallest give. Encouraged, she looked over at Nicole, who was thankfully still there. "Almost there, darling." She moved the hammer and pulled again.

The lid opened partially, a three inch crack suddenly appearing, with the majority of the nails that were holding it shut visible. Jacqueline looked inside and saw a collection of goods from the ship's hold that had been theirs -- some clothing, some books that Nicholas had insisted on bringing, various other odds and ends. Jacqueline ran back to Nicole and picked her up, bringing her over. "Look at that, Nicole! Our goods survived! Aren't you impressed?"

Nicole mewed a little, and Jacqueline held her close….then she looked into the sea. The entire coastline seemed to have been filled with debris from the ship's explosion. There was no way to tell what was still usable or what even was there, but between the cargo and the pieces of ship….

"Nicole, my love," said Jacqueline as she turned just in time to see Nicholas emerging from the jungle. "I think we're going to be alright."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took a little inspiration for the handling of baby Nicole from baby Aaron in seasons one to four of Lost. He was another child born of a mother caught in a wreck, so it seemed as good an inspiration as any (especially once I remembered that the movie had baby Tarzan being five or six months old at the time of his parent's jungle arrival)


	3. Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old hunter threatens the peace of the jungle...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning in advance, this chapter gets fairly grisly. It's not unexpected, given what we know of the Tarzan story, but for description purposes...well, it is making me reconsider the rating a little.

_He was._

_There were many animals in the jungle, some innocent, others not. Such concepts mattered little to him. He was built for one thing only, and that one thing was in service of his one goal….the hunt._

_The other animals of the jungle had many names for him. Monster. Demon. Evil. Killer._

_All true, and all a mere part of the full truth of him._

_The apes -- haired and hairless -- that occasionally ventured through his lands also had names for him. Cheetah. Mad. Beast. Sabor. Jagluiperd. Bobo._

_That one was his favorite. He was Bobo. He was the king of this jungle. Other creatures lived or died by his will alone._

_And he was hungry…._

  
  
  
  


"Happy birthday to you...Happy birthday to you...Happy birthday, dear Nicole….happy birthday to you."

Jacqueline hefted her child into the sling Nathaniel had rigged up, giving her a tiny kiss on the forehead. Once they'd realized that having an infant in a treehouse twenty feet off the ground was asking for trouble -- particularly one as curious as Nicole was turning out to be -- Nathaniel had thrown together a rough bjorn for them to carry Nicole in while they alternately watched her

_She'll be outgrowing this soon enough, though_ , thought Jacqueline. They had been lucky enough so far; Nicole being merely an infant meant they could get away with a minimum of clothing for her -- often just a sheet or a blanket would do. If Nicole got much bigger, though (an incidental hazard of children, she was discovering; they never stopped growing), then they would need to get either very creative or very original with the clothing situation. 

Jacqueline smiled and wandered over to the tiny library they had thrown together. Consisting mainly of a few novels that Nathaniel had brought with him when they left England a year ago and some youth-oriented books designed to help young children read, Jacqueline selected one of the primers and held it up to Nicole. "What do you think, dearest? Shall we try getting your tongue developed today?"

"Ma," said Nicole agreeably.

"I'm glad you agree." Jacqueline flipped open the book and held it before her. "Now, that letter there is 'A'. Can you say 'A'?"

Nicole just stared at her, her large brown eyes so like her father's taking in every detail of her face. Jacqueline smiled down at her. "'A', Nicole. Can you read that?" 

"You can't force her to learn to read before she's ready," said a voice behind her. Jacqueline turned and saw Nicholas climbing the last few steps into their treehouse. His clothes were still wet with sea spray and a catch of at least six fish was strung together in his hand. He hefted it with a grin and proudly declared, "I found breakfast."

Jacqueline rolled her eyes but smiled. "Did you talk them into surrendering, or was it simply a volunteer job?"

"Oh, my dear wife, it was such a great battle," he began. "After trekking for weeks towards the fabled falls of London, I found my enemies lined up upon the banks of the shore." Jacqueline giggled at his tale and sat upon their carefully constructed bed, turning Nicole to face him as he continued. "They shook their fins mightily and said, 'We know you of old, Nathaniel Haught! While you may have been witty enough to capture our forefathers, you will not defeat us so easily.'"

"'Oh, I should hope not,' I replied. 'Otherwise, who'll be left to provide next week's meal?'"

"'Silence, knave!' cried their leader. 'The only way you will take us is to defeat me in that most ancient of traditions...an arm-wrestling contest!'"

Jacqueline smiled, her face beaming with love. "Naturally, you won the contest single-armedly, since you actually had arms."

"Ah, you might think so, dear Jacqueline, but while I may have had reach, they had the advantages of strength and wet skin. It was a mighty struggle, but eventually, I was able to best my foe and take him hostage."

"I see," said Jacqueline. "And how did his followers feel about that?"

Nathaniel grimaced. "Sadly, they took exception to the results of the contest, proving that the honor lay in their commander alone. I'm afraid this particular branch of the river tribe is no more." He bowed his head out of respect. 

Jacqueline got up and hugged her husband, squishing Nicole between them. "I thank you for your struggles, brave warrior. Truly, you have done both I and your daughter a great service." She kissed his nose and ran her hand along his cheek. "Now, see what you can do about getting a fire going to cook some of these...unless you'd rather debone them?"

"Alas, my skills in that area pale in comparison to yours, dear lady. I shall leave the deboning to you."

Jacqueline shook her head and handed off Nicole to her husband. Nathaniel gladly took the child and nuzzled her, his beard tickling her and making her laugh with pleasure. "Happy first birthday, Nicole Raleigh Haught. May your life be as lucky as your birth was for us."

"What was that?" called Jacqueline from the porch.

"Just wishing our daughter a happy birthday, dear," replied Nathaniel.

Jacqueline stepped back inside, a stone sharpened knife recovered from the wreckage in her hand. "Nicole _Raleigh_ Haught?"

Nathaniel shrugged. "Simply a way of honoring the great Sir Walter and his many works," explained Nathaniel.

Jacqueline sighed. "One year old and _now_ you decide to give her a middle name...and one that turns her surname into an amusement, no less."

"Did you hear that, Nicole?" said Nathaniel. "Mother thinks your middle name is a mistake. What do you think?" Almost immediately, Nicole blew air between her lips, as though she were expressing disapproval. Nathaniel smiled innocently. "You see? It's entirely her decision. Nothing I can do."

Jacqueline groaned and turned back to the fish. "Just so you know, I'm leaving you for one of the parrots out there. At least they provide intelligent discourse."

"Whatever you say, dear," said Nathaniel.

"Da!" echoed Nicole.

  
  
  
  
  


Hours later, the jungle began its regular shift into nighttime, with most beasts finding shelter or curling into each other in a simultaneous search for comfort and warmth. Birds that had been active all day found nests, either high up in the trees or in the rocks and logs along the riverbed. Insects of various form slowly retreated to the sanctity of their hives, while the various lizards and frogs dug out holes to keep their temperature high enough.

In a treehouse on the edge of a jungle, the lone human residents of this region also began shutting down their location. The fire was sanded to avoid burning them out. The windows and doors were all shut. While safety was far from a guarantee at even the best of times, the humans had a routine that they stuck to for their child's sake, and at this point, neither deviated from it for fear of forgetting something vital.

Some small distance away, a pack of gorillas was going through a similar routine. They gathered their youngest at the center of the group, and then all the adults settled into places around them. While a few of the more energetic ones remained awake, their routine, much like that of the humans, was so ingrained that to deviate would surely mean disaster.

Slowly, one by one, almost all of the denizens of the jungle drifted off, except for a few restless stragglers and those creatures that were actually _more_ active at night than during the day.

  
  
  
  


_The hunger was on him, even worse now._

_It was more than just a physical hunger. If that was the case, Bobo would simply track down the biggest animal in the jungle, kill it, and feast for a moon. No, it was not enough just to kill to eat. He needed them to_ fear _him…_

_He sniffed the air as he crept through the jungle, his powerful legs tense with unused strength. All around him, various scents entered and were rejected. Parrot? Too small. Snake? Same. Insects? Even worse. He detected a few chimpanzees in the branches above him, but one thing he had learned was that where one or two of those were, there were another dozen he didn't see, and the noise they made would--_

<Wait.>

_He paused his hunt, a different scent entering the air. Slowly, his mouth curled upward in a low smile. That scent he knew. During the day, he tended to veer far from it, but now, at night, with the moon high…Slowly, he crept forward, and, as luck would have it, one portion of the scent cloud separated and began making_ it's _way towards_ him _. He chuckled softly to himself, and with all the assuredness inherent to one as powerful as him, saw his meal, wide-eyed and alone._

_" <Hello, there,>" he said, and inside, his stomach roared. _

  
  
  


Chrisee sighed and looked up at the lights in the sky. Any other night, she'd have fallen asleep instantly, but for some reason, she just could not get to sleep tonight. Maybe the crickets were chirping especially loudly tonight for her, although her first twelvemoon was more than a month ago. Maybe some of those fruits Jer had found for them earlier weren't as ripe as he had thought. Maybe….

She huffed and got up, looking about her with agitation. What she _wanted_ was to be moving, exploring, climbing. Instead she was stuck here on the ground, surrounded by sleeping adults and with no one to talk to and--

"<Chrisee?>"

Chrisee started and turned. On the other side of the group, Jer was looking at her. A small brownfur born just a couple moons after her, Jer more than made up for his tininess by being almost annoyingly curious about _everything._ He blinked at her and said, "<What are you doing?>" 

"<I can't sleep,>" said Chrisee. She looked up at the pile of adults arranged around her. They were sleeping so deeply...if she were to just head out, just to the edge of the group, they wouldn't miss her too much...probably.

"<Chrisee…>," Jer whispered behind her, but she ignored him and crept forward silently. There was a small space between two of the older apes that looked just big enough…. _yes!_ She slipped through and was outside the ring. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled back at Jer. "<Come on!>" she said. He cringed and shook his head, and she sighed. "<Fine, wait there. I'll be back.>"

Without waiting for Jer's response, Chrisee wandered off, looking around at everything. Usually when they travelled her father kept her right next to him, never letting her out of his sight and keeping her from actually seeing everything. Now, though, she could actually appreciate what was around her. The rustle of the jungle leaves, the wind through her fur….

There was some movement ahead of her. A small frog leaped out of the trees and began jumping down the path. Chrisee moved to follow it--

"<Hello, there.>"

Chrissee nearly screamed as she turned towards the voice. It was a low growl, and it was coming from the bushes to her left. She didn't see anyone, but…"<Who's there?>"

"<Oh, I have so many names...my friends call me one thing, my less-than-friends call me something else.>" The bushes rustled, and in the moonlight, Chrissee saw two glowing eyes staring back at her. "<Do you have friends, little ape?>"

Without knowing why, Chrissee was suddenly very frightened and wanted nothing more than to be back with her father. "<Yes, a lot...and a daddy, too. They're waiting for me.>" 

"<No, they aren't,>" said the shape. "<They're asleep back that way, except for maybe one or two of them, and _none_ of them know you're not where you should be.>" The eyes rose and moved forward, and Chrisee saw exactly what they were a part of.

"<Bobo…>" she whispered breathlessly.

"<No….>" grinned the predator. "<Not where you should be at all…>"

  
  
  
  


_He rushes forward and is on the young ape before it can move or scream. The flesh splits beneath his powerful jaws and the blood spurts everywhere, quenching his thirst for violence and death. The meat is tender, but delicious. He takes a few bites out of it, but all too quickly, the best pieces are gone, and he is still hungry._

_Leaving what remains of the tiny ape behind him, he resumes his search of the jungle. He searches carefully, his senses more attuned and attentive now that he has fed some. He prowls, and after some time he finds something new….something definitely not normal to the jungle. He finds a cliff, but more than that, there is something leading off the cliff and towards another tree...a large one, standing independent of the rest of the woods._

_And in that tree….more meat._

_He tests the surface of the thing leading off the cliff. It feels and smells like parts of a tree, and the things holding it all together resemble vines. The surface holds his weight, and he steps forward again, more confidently. Whatever this is, it will get him to the tree with the meat faster than working his way around the cliffs would have._

_He sniffs again. The scent is overwhelming. He quickens his pace, not wanting to keep his stomach waiting._

  
  
  
  


The first thing Jacqueline was aware of was a ringing. It was small but steady, and it took her a moment to place it. She rose from their bed and saw Nathaniel leaning outside, his eyes to the ground. She whistled softly so as not to wake Nicole and raised her eyebrows at him. _What?_

He pointed downward and made a motion as though he were ringing a bell. _Something tripped an alarm._ He then pointed at the path again and walked two fingers across his arm. _I'm going to look._

Jacqueline's eyebrows shot up and she shook her head. He held his hand up to stop her but she was already moving. "Just stay," she whispered. "It was probably just a bird or one of the chimpanzees."

"Now what kind of protector would I be if I let assumptions like that guide me?" he said, keeping his tone light. He kissed her hand and leaned out the entry before quickly coming back inside. 

The fear on his face was answer enough about the danger. "What is it?" she said, not bothering to whisper and hoping Nicole would stay asleep through everything that might be about to happen.

Nathaniel turned his gaze to her, and his skin was pale. "One of the cats. Big in every way, and looking hungry."

Jacqueline nodded. "I'll hide Nicole." Quickly she was scooping up Nicole in a blanket and hiding her in a pile of vines. "Stay safe, dear one," she said, and then went outside their room and pulled the door shut as much as she could.

In the main room, she was greeted by the sight of Nathaniel readying an old rifle they had recovered, of all things. "Nathaniel, no!" she cried. "That hasn't even been tested, much less used, in over a year, and certainly not by us."

"Perhaps not, but the situation is desperate," he said, continuing to struggle to lead the rifle. "If nothing else, it should buy some time."

"Time for what?" Jacqueline asked, but before she could be answered, a soft footstep sounded from the porch as something approached the entryway. Jacqueline stepped back and grabbed one of the improvised spears they had made. Both her and Nathaniel stepped back as something began pawing at the door, slowly nudging it open. 

There was a low growl, and a gigantic leopard entered the treehouse. It seemed to be at least eight feet long and made entirely of muscle. It's coat was a yellow so bright it was almost white, and spotted with red-and-black markings. It's muzzle was lined with a black so dark that Jacqueline couldn't tell if it was natural or from blood. 

It roared softly and entered the treehouse fully. Jacqueline shivered with fear as Nathaniel slowly cocked his weapon. The animal's head jerked to the right and _looked right at her_. She wanted to run, scream, cry, fight, but all she could do as it snarled was tremble as it came closer to her.

"Hey!"

The creature turned and an explosion went off as Nathaniel's gun fired. Jacqueline saw both him and the leopard get knocked off their feet. Nathaniel seemed only dazed, but blood was pouring from the head of the leopard, and Jacqueline was almost sure she could see its skull, undamaged but exposed. _A graze, but a bad one_ , she thought briefly, and then she was moving. She screamed at the leopard and ran towards it, spear thrust forward. It moved, and her intended midsection shot to end it only sliced open it's back leg. The movement of her target caused her to overbalance and trip, hitting the floor. 

"Jacqueline!" called Nathaniel, and the leopard snarled, reminded of the one who had hurt it. It ran towards Nathaniel, who barely got the gun up between the two of them in time. The leopard pressed all its weight against Nathaniel's arms, the two struggling as Jacqueline tried to make her feet. Nathaniel leaned into the stock side of the rifle and shoved, and the leopard fell back momentarily. Nathaniel stood and took aim, but before he could fire the cat leaped on him and was sinking its teeth into his throat.

Jacqueline screamed his name, and the cat roared back at her. She clutched the spear to her chest as the cat turned to face her, head low and hips high. _Please, God...watch my Nicole_ , she prayed quickly. The cat ran towards her and

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Bobo's various names, I basically plugged leopard into Google Translate, selected half a dozen African region languages, and selected the ones that looked good.
> 
> Also, the largest ever leopard had a recorded length of nearly nine feet, with an estimated weight of 212 pounds. I didn't quite give that much length to Bobo, but weightwise....well, I'll leave that number to the imagination.


	4. Innocence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the midst of tragedy, hope forms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never ever look up anything about what gorillas do with their dead. You'll spend half the night crying about it otherwise. Just trust that I'm close to accurate and for your own sake, leave it at that.

Bobo roared in triumph and rage as he landed on the smaller of the two hairless apes -- a female, judging by the milk sacs on its chest. The stick it had tried to use to fend him off landed uselessly to the side and it had just enough time to see its death in his eyes before he leaned in and bit into its neck.

The spray of blood as the creature's life left its body felt like ample payback for the wound its mate had inflicted. He relished in the triumph and the meat, and for a few moments, lost even himself as he engorged himself on his latest victims.

Eventually, after he'd had his fill, he looked about him, feeling dizzy and uncertain. The smaller victim had the overlay of a third scent on her, in addition to the musk belonging to her also-dead mate. It smelled like the two mixed, but also….

He shook himself, and blood fell from his wound. That would undoubtedly leave a mark that he'd carry with him, but between him and the one who'd given it, _he_ was the one walking away.

He rose and stretched. That third scent still lingered. Perhaps it was only the natural mix any nest of two mates developed when they shared a home. Or perhaps….

The wound dripped again. He came to a decision. The big water was not far from here. He would go there and rest a while, and then later, he would come back. This place was his now, and he marked it as such. Only a fool would enter it at this point, and if any tried….

He grinned _._

  
  
  
  
  


She woke with a small cry and looked around. It was sticky and warm, as all days were, so she took that as a good sign. 'Good' was a concept she understood. Anything that made Ma or Da smile was generally good, and they always did that whenever she did... _anything_ , really, so that must mean she was good. 

She giggled at that. Good making good was good. Still smiling, she called (as much as she was able) for Ma or Da. She was hungry, and her bottom tickled in that way it did before stuff came out.

Neither of them showed.

She frowned and tried to get up. She had been working on this for a while, and she thought she had it. Roll, press up, and…

 _Yes!_ She wasn't exactly standing like Ma and Da, but she could see out of her bed. Only...there was nothing there. Both Ma and Da were gone.

Her lip trembled. Where were Ma and Da? They had to be near. They _had_ to. They…

She couldn't stand anymore. She slid back down the side of her bed and started to cry, screaming and hoping Ma or Da would come back soon.

  
  
  
  
  
  


The entire troop was silent as they surrounded the body of young Chrisee, her body still where it was after Bobo had had her. Rendal silently grieved, his fingers delicately setting her to rights as best he could. There was some dirt behind her left ear...a leaf stuck to her foot...and...and…

He roared, his anger and sadness and pain and hatred for the filthy killer coming out. Around him, most of the troop did the same, some of them calling for justice, but most, like him, just giving voice to their grief. Only two members were silent...Jer and Kala.

His rage spent, at least for the moment, he turned to Jer. "<How long ago did she leave?>"

The young ape stuttered and looked as if he was going to pass out. "<Uh...well, I tried to stop her, but she was pretty determined, and-->"

"<Jer…>" he rumbled, his voice cutting through the young ape's ramblings.

Jer swallowed. "<It was maybe half through the night.>"

Rendal nodded. "<We need to go.>"

The rest of the troop looked at him in surprise. "<Go?>" said Lonnie. "<Rendal, are you-->"

"<If Bobo is close, then he could return at any moment. I'd rather leave that monster an empty clearing than a full belly.>"

"<Any more full, you mean,>" said Kala sadly beside him. He knelt next to her and pulled her close. She pulled back and said, "<Rendal….we haven't even buried her, or grieved, or-->

"<We've cleaned her, and gave her thoughts. If Bo-->

"<Do _not_ say his name!>"

Rendal blinked at the ferocity in his mate's voice. He started again, "<If….any danger is still near….we should be gone if it decides to come back.>"

Kala sighed and looked around. She sniffed the air. "<The water...we'll go by the water. Bury her there. She always liked splashing around.>"

Rendal nodded as Kala scooped up their daughter. "<Of course.>"

They moved out, and half an hour later were at the water's edge. All of the troop took a big handful of sand out of the ground and stepped respectfully back as Kala came forward with young Chrissee. She kissed the broken body once, and then laid her in the hole they had made. Silently, each member of the troop put their handfuls of sand back over her.

After a moment, Kala breathed. "<Let's go.>"

As one, the troop moved along the shore and back through the jungle. None spoke, each lost in their own thoughts about what had happened. Rendal found himself remembering the early days of Chrisee's life. She had been so soft but so loud. Crying out all the time, but especially when even one of her parents was gone. It was almost as though he could still hear--

_Wait._

He paused in his march and cocked his head to the side. Was that…

Behind him, the rest of the troop halted as he listened. There were the distant waves of the big water, which would forever be heard by Chrisee. There was the wind in the trees, the various animal noises, and then closer...crying.

He turned to Kala. "<Do you hear that?>"

Kala turned to him sadly. "<So?>"

"<Something's crying, off that way.>" He pointed along the shore. "<Someone might be hurt.>"

"<Rendal…>" Kala begged. "<Don't. You said we need to move.>"

"<We will, just not together. Keep leading the troop down the shore. I'll see what's happening and catch up with you.>" He touched her shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring way, and then, before she could object again, was gone.

  
  
  
  


Bobo dipped his head into the water, trying very hard not to move too fast. The blood from the wound had slowed, which was good -- his blood was the only blood that belonged in its original body, thank you very much. As the waves lapped against it, he gritted his teeth and growled, each impact sending another jolt of pain through him.

He stepped back and looked at his image in the clear water. His normally perfect features were now marred by an ugly welt on the top of his head. Just now it was bright red, but over time...would his coat grow back over it? Would he heal enough to _not_ have bolts of pain ring through him with every movement? 

He roared at the scarred image and slapped it, and it disappeared momentarily, making him feel a little better. With a final growl, he turned and began heading back towards his latest feast….and then he stopped. 

Someone was approaching.

Running for the cover of a nearby tree, Bobo waited for this newcomer to reveal themself. They were approaching from up the water, heading for him and his latest meal. Their scent was deep and musky, yet proud, and Bobo grinned when he realized who it was.

Rendal. 

_Thought you'd have died out of dullness, you dumb ape,_ Bobo thought savagely as Rendal approached. He didn't seem to notice Bobo, but was instead focused on the nest of the hairless apes, as though he was following something. Curious, Bobo turned his attention to the nest and his eyes widened.

Crying.

Crying from a nest.

A nest where he'd just killed a male and a female.

Suddenly, he knew what that third scent had been...only now, Rendal had come between him and it.

"<Well,>" he said, unsheathing his claws, "<I suppose two more kills instead of one isn't too bad.>" As Rendal began crossing the hanging branches that led to the nest, Bobo crept out of hiding and began following him.

  
  
  


Rendal eyed the bridge uncertainly. He had been alive for a great many seasons, and he thought himself pretty knowledgeable of just what every creature in the jungle was capable of. This, though...he cautiously stepped onto it, and although the bridge swayed in the wind, it still held, and he ventured a little further. The wood creaked slightly, but the vines that held the bridge up seemed well put together. What they led to, though…

For a moment, Rendal was thrown back to a year ago, when he and Kala had seen the great light coming from the sea and heard the thunder without rain. He had told some of the others about it, and eventually, they pointed him in the direction of an ancient ape that lived by himself in some lost corner of the jungle. The ape had listened to his story, then said a single word to explain it…. _Hoomin_. The things the old ape had told him seemed like fanciful stories -- bald apes that covered every inch of themselves and carried sticks that could kill from far away -- but now, seeing what he was seeing, Rendal wondered if maybe the old ape hadn't been on to something.

Above him, the cry sounded again -- an infant, probably, and in distress...much like Chrisee had been in distress last night, with no one around to help her.Rendal shook his head clear of the thought and pressed onward. If he couldn't help Chrisee, maybe he could make up for it with this.

The bridge stayed together for his entire trip across it, and Rendal looked up at the hoomin dwelling, placed oddly in a tree. It seemed to have been thrown together with discarded scraps of wood and almost didn't make sense...like what it was part of was originally something else. As he approached it, he saw there were more vines underneath it, only they weren't the green of the jungle, but a dark mud color. They crossed over and through each other, protecting the bottom of the hoomin nest. To his left, a small but passable trail led up and around the tree.

Curious. Maybe hoomins weren't as good at climbing as apes, and that's why they made the fake bridge? As Rendal reached the top of the trail and approached the base of the tree, he saw more of those mud vines leading up to the place where the crying was coming from. There was some kind of curved thing next to it, suspended from yet another vine, and next to that, what looked like a way in.

Destination set, Rendal swung himself into the tree and made for the hole. It took him a couple minutes to reach it, but when he was up there, he saw that just inside the hole was...blood. Blood, and tracks. Tracks that ended in claws. He swallowed, nervous now, but angry, too. "<Bobo?>" he called ahead. "<You in there?>"

No answer, not that he had expected one. He went inside and almost instantly recoiled. Bobo might not be here now, but he certainly had been. Two hoomin bodies were lying there, covered in blood and torn wide open, as bad in appearance as Chrisee had been. Rendal gritted his teeth against the anger he felt when another cry came from above him. There was a small but deliberate pile of wood leading up, and the crying was coming from there.

Rendal narrowed his eyes and proceeded upwards. The cries were coming from a few steps away, at paw level. He approached and saw a pile of vines on the floor, and inside them, something moved. He looked inside, and--

It was a baby. A _hoomin_ baby.

Rendal stared at it. It was small, about the size of his arm. There was some thick red fur on it's head. It's eyes were a dark brown. It was still crying, and--

  
  
  
  


She turned, and saw the fuzzy shape standing over her. It looked curiously at her, but its appearance was thick and hairy, so this _must_ be Da. It smelled like a Da, after all. She didn't have much to base that on, but…

"Da?" she asked

  
  
  
  
  


"Da?"

Rendal almost screamed in surprise. He backed away from the hoomin and looked around, his gaze falling on a pale leaf. There was something on it. He looked, and realized it was some markings that looked like the three hoomins he had seen so far. They were all smiling (at least, Rendal assumed they were smiling), and looking at this, and at the pile of leaves next to the baby, Rendal suddenly realized just who the hoomins downstairs were to this tiny redheaded child.

"Da?" the tiny hoomin called again, and Rendal could hear the start of another cry in its voice. Rendal went back to it and sniffed it. It smelled bad, but just near its bottom, which was covered in some soft white leaf. Rendal sniffed that and immediately wished he hadn't. Did hoomins normally let their young sit in their leavings? No. That was wrong. Rendal pulled at the covering and it slid off almost instantly, spilling what it had been holding. The tiny hoomin stopped crying and started laughing, and Rendal saw beneath its odd coverings and the dirt from its leavings that it was a bright white, almost matching the sand at the big water's edge. The baby, which was unmistakably female from what he could see, looked up at him again and said one more time, "Da?" Rendal smiled at it and nodded. "Da," he agreed. The whiteskin hoomin laughed as Rendal took it and headed back down towards where he had come in.

"<That's mine.>"

Rendell turned towards the entrance to the hoomin den and his lips curled in rage. "<Bobo…>, he said. The leopard strode inside as though he owned the place, and one quick sniff confirmed it -- beneath the blood and the leavings of the little tarzan he was holding, Rendal could without question detect the scent of Bobo all over the former hoomin nest. 

Bobo apparently felt the same. "<Thought that was you I was following back to my new den here. I'll tell you what -- put that thing down, leave now, and Kala will only lose one member of her personal troop today.>"

Rendal's eyes narrowed. "<You killed Chrisee…>"

"<Did I?>" The leopard looked almost thoughtful, as though he were recalling something from years ago. <"Oh! The little one from last night. Was she yours? Well...that's all right. This one's parents are keeping her company as we speak, though if you'd rather there be two reunions instead of one….>"

Bobo snarled and leapt, and Rendal was moving. He pulled back the arm that wasn't holding the hoomin and let fly, bringing his fist into Bobo's chin. The mad cat went sailing back towards the entrance, and Rendal followed and sprinted past him. He looked around hurriedly and saw the curved thing from before. Hoping that he was right, he leaped into it….

...and he and the child were falling _fast_ . The hoomin contraption took them down the cliffside before stopping right at the base of the hoomin bridge. He glanced upward and saw Bobo at the cliff's edge. "<Rendal!>" he called. "<That thing is _mine_ , do you hear me? _Mine! > _"

"<Good luck getting her!"> Rendal called back with a laugh, and then he was sprinting back across the bridge, laughing merrily as he ran to catch up with Kala and the rest of the troop. He looked down at the hoomin, and she too was laughing gleefully. 

"<Come on, Tarzan,>" he said kindly. "<We've got a troop to catch up with.>"

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gorillas take about ten years to mature and generally live to about 40 in the wild, though some captive gorillas reach to about age 50. The oldest known gorilla was Coco, who was born in captivity in Ohio in December of 1956 and passed in January 2017 at just over 60 years old. The moral of this is that put simply (and with me playing loose with the reasoning), Rendal can potentially live as long as a hoomin parent would.
> 
> Also, in the original Tarzan novels, the name Tarzan means white skin in the language of the apes, so while an argument could be made for that being racist or speciesist, we're instead taking it at face value for what it is….a name, and the name that Nicole will be known by going forward.


	5. Exile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People find themselves on their own

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really am trying to keep to a normal schedule of Thursday, but dammit, I finished this yesterday evening and I am just so proud of the writing in the second half, so I'm updating a couple days early this week.

_England, 1897_

_Greystroke Manor_

"She is _not_ my daughter!"

"You've raised her for years! You're the only father she knows!"

There was the sound of something breaking, and she heard a small scream from her mother before her father was yelling again. "If that's how you feel, maybe you should take her to _him_!" There was a pause in the arguing as her father audibly pulled the cork out of a bottle. "Hell, take both of you to him. At least then she'd be out of my hair."

"Ward, please," said her mother. "At least _try_ to be reasonable."

"Wynonna?"

The twelve year old nearly jumped at the softly accented small voice behind her. She turned, and there, clutching her blanket and looking terribly upset at the raised voices of their parents, stood her little sister. "Hey, Waves," she said, trying not to appear bothered. "Shouldn't you be in bed? I thought six year olds had to sleep twenty hours a day."

"Mommy and Daddy are fighting." 

It wasn't a question, and Wynonna loved her sister too much to lie to her. "Yeah." 

Waverly bit her lip and seemed to draw into herself. She looked up to Wynonna and said, "Is it about me?"

Wynonna shook her head and hugged her sister close. "No, Waves. Mom and Dad...they just found something out about one of Dad's old work colleagues, and they've got different ideas on what to do with him. That's all."

The office door opened with a bang and Michelle Earp, _née_ Gibson, came running out, her eyes wet with tears. She put a hand to her face and wiped them away before noticing her daughters positioned just outside. With a deep inhale, she turned to them. "Girls, go to your rooms and grab whatever clothes you can carry easily."

"What's happening, Mommy?" asked Waverly.

"Ward and I have...had a disagreement," she said, and Wynonna noticed how she said _Ward_ and not _your father_. "He feels it is best if I remove myself from his presence."

Wynonna nearly choked. "You're running away?"

_"We're_ running away, Wynonna," said Michelle. "It's what's best for all of us. You'll see."

Wynonna was shaking her head. "But….we sold everything back in America to come here. Everything we own is here. We can't just leave."

"We don't have a choice, darlin'", said Michelle quickly, her accent coming out. "Your father is mighty pissed at me, and I shudder to think what he might do if I'm still here come nightfall. Let him keep running that shipping business he inherited into the ground. We'll run and start our own company...maybe a hunting company, huh?"

Waverly pulled away from her and closer to Wynonna. "I don't want to hurt anything."

Michelle frowned. "Okay, honey, that's fine. It doesn't have to be hunting. It can be anything we like. Travel, or design, or….anything. We just--"

"Are you still here?"

Michelle stopped talking and all three looked behind them. There stood Ward Earp, a frown on his face and fire in his eyes. He was staring at Michelle the way a starving man might stare at a particularly succulent steak. His hands curled into fists at his side, desperate for a target.

To her credit, Michelle stood and faced him bravely. "No need to trouble yourself, Ward. We were just leaving. Come along."

Michelle walked down the corridor, but Waverly held fast to Wynonna and stayed right where she was. Michelle looked behind her and saw her youngest daughter staying next to her sister. "Girls," she said, eyes pleading with her children to follow. "Let's go."

Waverly's lip trembled. "But...what'll happen to us?"

"Whatever we want to, honey. Now, let's go."

Waverly stayed where she was and pulled closer to her sister. Wynonna looked down at her then back at their mother. "Mama….we can't go."

"No, we can't _stay_."

" _You_ can't stay," said Ward. "My daughter can do whatever she wants." Wynonna glanced up at him and saw a wicked grin on his face. Maybe--

"Fine," said Michelle, her voice disappointed but firm, and Wynonna turned back to her, shock on her face. _Fine?_ Did she just agree to leave her? Michelle set her jaw and held a hand out. "Come on, Waverly."

Waverly grabbed hold of Wynonna and held tight, her voice hitching with unshed tears. Michelle continued to wait but neither Waverly nor Wynonna made a move towards her. Ward stepped behind them and said smugly, "Looks like you have your answer."

Michelle's eyes widened and she stared from Ward to her daughters and back again. Her face seemed to crack in two for a moment and then harden as she pulled herself together. Without speaking a word, she walked to the exit of the manor, opened the door, and walked into the world. 

Ward let out a low grunt of satisfaction and headed back into his office. Waverly and Wynonna held each other as he walked away from them, each trying to comprehend what had just happened. Quietly, Wynonna approached the entrance to the office, pulling Waverly after her. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. 

Ward looked up at the sound of her knock, and Wynonna nearly ran right back out the door at the look on his face. His eyes were bloodshot and his lips seemed to curl up in a snarl as he pointed his father's old pistol at them. After a few seconds, he lowered the gun and breathed, and a chuckle escaped his lips. "Wynonna," he said, placing the weapon back into his desk. "Did you need something?"

Wynonna swallowed her fear and tightened her grip on Waverly. "Where's Mama gone?"

Ward laughed again. "Mama….Mama's left us, honey. She won't be back." He unscrewed a bottle on his desk and took a drink out of it. "Thinks she can sneak around on me…." He turned to the window and took another drink, and Wynonna and Waverly looked at each other and immediately left the office.

Once they were far enough away, Waverly turned to her older sister. "Wynonna, is he telling the truth? Is Mama really gone?"

"I think so, Waves." 

"Well….what's that mean? What's going to happen to us? Is Daddy going to--"

Wynonna took her sister by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. "Hey, don't you worry about Daddy. If Mama doesn't wanna be here, I'll take care of you. I promise."

Waverly sniffled and looked up at her. "You promise?"

Wynonna nodded. "Always, baby girl. Always."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_England, 1897_

_Southend, London_

_Ten years._

The man whose mustache had only just started to turn gray threw back another drink and returned his attention to the card game in front of him. His opponents were a motley sort, as were all those who frequented this particular establishment. He had been dwelling in this particular space for about a year, after finally leaving his own native soil two years back and being kicked out of his former (common law) wife's home not quite twelve months after that.

Frankly, he had been surprised that they put up with him that long, especially given the rumors that had surrounded the time of their previous parting. Still, fortune always eventually smiles, even on the most damned and damaged souls. Lord knew he qualified in both of those areas. 

He looked around the table. This being a simple card game in the back corner of a forgotten pub in a forgotten corner of a neglected portion of a much larger city, no one had been especially forthcoming with names. Instead of actual names, he gave them designations of his own. The bearded fella to his left was Harry. The next person up, who had a great many rings upon his hands, was henceforth Ringo. John was given to the nervous-looking gentlemen who had made no less than five trips to the bathroom since they had started playing. As for the impolite person to his immediate right…."Rudy my friend, the cards have been dealt and seen, and it is down to you. Are you going to man up and ante up, or should the others and I find a more agreeable player to partner with?"

Rudy gave him a look that seemed capable of murder and shoved his entire pot into the center of the table. "All in," he said with a sneer. He leaned back and chuckled, smoke from his cigarette encircling his head. "Still feeling lucky, cowboy?"

"Always," he said, and pushed what remained of his own pile into the center. The other three made various sounds of disbelief and threw their cards down, leaving it to just the two of them. He and Rudy looked at each other, each daring the other to reveal their hand first. Finally, he sighed and said to Rudy, "After you?"

Rudy nodded, and laid his cards on the table. There, plain for all to see, were four eights, with the jack of hearts backing them up. Those observing the battle whistled and applauded Rudy's luck, and even the man had to bow his head in appreciation of that. "Well, now," he said, speaking slowly. "That right there is a mighty fine hand, my friend. I salute you."

Rudy grinned widely. "Well, I appreciate that, friend. Think I'll be--"

"Doesn't quite beat a straight flush, though."

The grin on Rudy's face faltered, and the man placed his cards on the table. There, from the jack of diamonds on top to the seven of diamonds on the bottom, was what looked to all appearances to be a perfect straight flush. The table exploded in disbelief, and Rudy upended the table and grabbed the man by his collar. "You fucking cheat!" he screamed, saliva flying with every word. "I oughta kill you for that!"

"Well, that seems like a threat. What do you suppose _he_ has to say about that, though?" He pointed to something behind Rudy, and Rudy had just enough time to look behind him before a club was smacking him in the head and knocking him to the ground. As he fell, the gambler was able to see two members of Scotland Yard standing behind them. The nearer was casually wiping something off of his billy club with a ready handkerchief.

"Having a good time, old sport?" said Officer Billy Club, as his partner bent to pick up Rudy.

"Perfectly wonderful," answered the gambler.

"A bit _too_ wonderful, by the look of things," said Officer No Club. "Maybe it's time you close it out for the night, eh?"

"Ah, it's just a little riff-raff," said the gambler. "Nothing I haven't seen before."

"Oh, I'm sure you have," said Billy Club, who was now professionally twirling his namesake. "You must be….what do you reckon, Burt? Forty?"

Burt -- Officer No Club -- looked over at him and gave him a once-over. "Probably closer to fifty, if I'm any judge, George."

"Aye, fifty," said George. "That'd mean you were born right about 1850, wouldn't it?"

"So?" said the gambler. "Is it an arrestable offense to be born then?"

"Nay, of course not. That'd be about the most ridiculous charge ever, wouldn't it, Burt?"

"That it would, George."

"Now, there are _some_ things we could charge you for, if we were of a mind. Causing the peace to be disturbed, for one…" George bent over and picked up a small collection of cards that had fallen near the gambler's foot. He stacked them and began revealing them in no particular order. A jack of diamonds, then a seven, then a ten, a nine….and a three. "Being a liar and a cheat, for another."

_Damn_. "Lying by itself is not a crime either, sir."

"And lying to a peace officer? Especially, say, one conducting an investigation?" 

The gambler's mustache twitched. " And what, pray tell, would you be investigating?"

"Right now? You." The officer grinned. "I know you."

The gambler kept his face neutral as his hands moved to his belt. "Do you?"

"You keep those hands nice and level with me, boyo," growled the officer. The gambler scoffed at the designation but kept his hands visible. The officer locked eyes with the man. "You're John Henry Holliday."

The gambler broke out laughing. "Me? I'm John Holliday?" He laughed again. "Oh, son, you must be working too hard. John Holliday died about ten years back. Consumption, I believe."

"Oh, I heard that story. Then I heard another story that some lady healed you in exchange for info regarding the plans of your best friend, Wyatt Earp. Also heard that when he found out what you did, your old mate was heartbroken." The officer tsked. "Pretty much declared you dead in spirit if not body, he did."

The gambler felt a slow rage building within him. "You lie, sir," he said quietly

"Do I?"

"You do, and what's more, I doubt very much you can prove a single word of what you say."

"Well….that would be the rub, now, wouldn't it?" The officer leaned in close. "Hear me, Holliday, or whatever you call yourself -- I do not like those who flout the law. You have one day to make yourself disappear from here. After that, if I am to find out that your traitorous self is still here, it will be my _extreme_ pleasure to bring you to some form of justice."

The gambler's eyes were wide, but he nodded. "Consider yourself understood, sir." The gambler picked up his coat and hat from the entry, then paused. "You really do have a lot of anger in you, son. You should do something about that."

The officer turned on him, and his eyes were nearly blazing. "Holliday, I swear, one more word--"

"I told you, sir...John Henry Holliday is dead, and I am leaving." The gambler went out the door, lost in thought. Once upon a time, that would have gone very differently. Once upon a time, he would have been in there with his close personal friend. Once upon a time, he might have even been on the side of those two officers. Once upon a time, he had had a semblance of honor.

Once upon a time, all of those things would have been true for John Henry 'Doc' Holliday, but as he had told the officer, John Henry 'Doc' Holliday was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> November 8, 1887 is the official day of. Also, that last bit had me crying while I wrote it.


	6. Youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One sunny afternoon in the jungle....

The troop had been moving for some time, as was normal for them. Now they were resting. The females were gathered in a circle near the center, attending to the youngest ones, those still too young to make it more than a few steps outside of camp. The rest of the group was sprinkled about, but none of them were beyond a good shout away.

Rendal picked a fruit off of a nearby bush and chewed it thoughtfully. While his standing may have fallen in recent years, neither was he entirely out of the group, though whether that was for usefulness or gloating, he couldn't say….or rather, he didn't _want_ to. That was fine, though. It was less of a headache. So long as he could take care of the ones he cared about, he was happy. 

The branches above him rustled as something moved among them. He smiled to himself and kept his focus on the bush. He had gotten most of what was ripe off of it, but there was still one piece left near the bottom that he could see but not quite reach. He knelt low and got on his chest. If he stretched his arm underneath….

A loud howl erupted from the trees above and he rolled over to face the hairless ape that was now as big as his arm and then some as she fell towards him. Just before she made impact with his chest, he caught the child with both his hands and let out a deep laugh. "<You made too much noise again, daughter.>"

"<Did not!>" protested Tarzan, her red hair falling down her back as she struggled to get out of his grip. "<You had no idea I was there, Dad! Admit it!>"

Rendal sighed. "<You're right. I was fully expecting Jer. Don't even know why I bothered to catch you.>" He opened his hands and the tiny creature fell the rest of the way to his chest. She laughed and crawled off, her smile as bright as the big light above. "<What'd you think of my call? Did it scare you?>" 

"<Oh, it was good,>" said Rendal, trying to remain serious as Tarzan crawled all over everything. "<Sounded almost like one of those jackals we hear about every now and then.>"

Tarzan's face fell. "<I don't _wanna_ sound like the jackals, though, Dad. I wanna sound like _me_.>" 

"<Well...what do _you_ sound like?>"

Tarzan bit her lip and thought about this as Rendal began going through her hair for any spare leaves or branches or insects. "<Well…>," she said hesitantly. "<We sound kinda similar.>"

"<Oh? I wasn't aware my voice had gotten so shrill.>"

Tarzan groaned. "<I just mean, I could be like you. Make whatever sound you make.>"

Rendal found a large caterpillar crawling up Tarzan's back and plucked it off. "<All clean,>" he said. "<And what sound do I make?>"

Tarzan got down on all fours and frowned before making several unhappy grunts. Rendal couldn't help it -- he laughed loudly and clapped. "<Well,>" he said, "<You've certainly got me down. Here.>" He held out the caterpillar to his child.

Tarzan's mouth fell open. "<That was on me?>"

Rendal nodded. "<Crawling up your back, as luck would have it.>"

The girl grinned. "<Thanks, Dad!>" She grabbed the caterpillar and half of it was gone down her throat in an instant. "<Itth delithith!>" She hugged him around his chest and was instantly off again, hooting the whole way as Rendal watched her go.

 _ <So glad I found you _,> thought the aging ape fondly. He could hear her hooting past the females and the younglings, and it was all he could do not to laugh again at her impersonation of him.

"<Rendal.>"

The smile fell off Rendal's face as the owner of the voice emerged from the brush. The new arrival was younger than Rendal, a mere fifteen years of age, yet despite his youth there was both a confidence and a strength that Rendal had never known. Muscles rippled in the younger ape's arms as he slowly approached the former troop leader. Rendal stood his ground and calmly turned to face the new arrival. "<Kerchak,>" he said. "<Having a good day?>"

Kerchak growled. "<Where'd your freak run off to?>"

"<Freak? Oh, you mean Tarzan.>" Rendal looked about him. "<Don't see her around.>"

"<She was here. I can smell her.>"

"<Well, if you know she was here, why are you asking? You getting old?>"

Kerchak's eyes narrowed. "<Someone was poking around my spot last night, picking at me when everyone should have been asleep. One more time -- where. Is. She.>"

Rendal sighed. "<You have a bad night's sleep and blame it on her? You sure you didn't just sleep on a beehive?>"

Kerchak roared and placed himself directly in front of Rendal. "<You'd be wise to watch what you say, Rendal. Remember, _I_ run this troop now, not you. You live by _my_ will alone, and because those wives begged me not to end you.>"

"<Appreciated,>" said Rendal. "<We done?>"

Kerchak seemed to loom larger. "<You'll never be done, old man. From now until your death, you exist just to show what happens to those that try and fight me, and that _thing_ only exists to keep you in line.>" Kerchak grinned. "<And the second either of you are no longer of use…>" Kerchak picked up a thick branch in one paw and casually snapped it in two. "<Understood?>"

Rendal nodded, and Kerchak turned away to head back towards where the others were relaxing. Once he was gone, Rendal let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. His mind turned over Kerchak's words. He could handle being hurt or killed….that was just a part of life. If his death meant Tarzan's death, though…

"<Please, Tarzan>," he said. "<For both our sakes, don't do anything foolish.>"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Tarzan ran merrily through the forest, her bright mane flying behind her as she dashed along the ground. The calls of the various birds echoed down from the treetops, and she stopped and hooted back up at them. It wasn't _exactly_ words -- they were just birds, after all -- but they had their own community and sense of belonging, just like the apes and the elephants and the cats and everything else in the jungle. They flocked together, and if that flocking gave them a sense of family, well...who was she to say they weren't worthy of attention?

She grinned in delight as a few of them hooted back and flew down closer to her. They kept their distance, but just to be able to see their many colors this close was good enough. Even though they were all the same basic shade of Rendal (or maybe a little lighter), she still found herself entranced by them -- by their size, by their flying, by their tiny mouths that made _so_ much noise. She crept closer, not wanting to scare them but not wanting to miss this chance either.

As she got closer, one particularly large bird noticed her and flew over to her. It tilted its head at her, but made no real move to leave. Tarzan slowly crawled over to it and held out a hand, which the bird nimbly leapt on. Despite her internal nervousness, Tarzan brought the bird closer to her face.

There was a roar nearby, and the bird suddenly squawked at her and flew off. Tarzan tried to grab at it, but was instead rewarded with a few fallen feathers as her new friend took off, joined shortly by his companions. She picked up one of the feathers and turned it over, marveling at how clean it was. 

A crash to her left and a scream brought her attention back to the here and now. It sounded as though something had fallen out of one of the nearby trees. Curious, Tarzan ventured forward. The troop was off to her right, but most of them were resting or babysitting the youngest. A few of the older apes closer to her age were sprinkled about, but none of them were curious enough to just randomly climb any old tree, and these definitely didnt have any fruit, on them, which could only mean….

"<Jer?>" 

A groan came from some nearby grass and Tarzan crawled over to it. Sure enough, there lay Jer, a bruise forming where he had fallen out of the tree and onto his too-smart head. Tarzan sighed and went over to help her friend. "<So, what were you trying to do _this_ time?>"

"<Nothing!>" said Jer, a little too strongly for Tarzan to believe him. "<I just was looking at the tree there, and thought that the birds might have the right idea about being high up-->"

"<You _do_ know we can sleep in trees whenever we want, right?>"

"<\--so then I tried to get far enough out to see what it's like from their view, but then I...well…">

Despite Jer's nervousness, Tarzan couldn't help but laugh a little. "<You got scared halfway up?>"

Jer looked away shyly. "<I mean, it's a _really_ high tree.>" 

Tarzan rolled her eyes and helped up her friend. "<Honestly, Jer, you must be the only ape in the whole jungle to be scared of heights.>"

"<Hey, I am not scared of heights. I just have a healthy respect for them, that's all.>"

"<Uh-huh.>" Tarzan shook her head. "<Well, while you were respecting heights, I found this.>" She pulled out the feather and showed it to Jer.

Jer gasped. "<You got one?>" Tarzan nodded, and Jer leapt up in excitement, nearly knocking her over. "<Awesome! I knew you could do it!>"

Some laughter came from the trees to their right. "<Do what? Grow hair? Is the hairless wonder starting to look normal?>"

Jer and Tarzan turned and both groaned. Striding towards them were Tucker and Beth, Kerchak's youngest children. Beth was grinning wickedly as she approached them. "<Well, well...the hairless wonder and the cowardly climber. Out hiding from everyone else, as usual.>" 

Tarzan sneered at them. "<You're one to talk. Shouldn't you be preening yourself somewhere and leaving the thinking to someone with an actual brain?>"

Tucker turned his gaze on them. "<Why sister, I believe it's trying to talk back to us.>" He crawled closer to them and leaned in, as though examining a delicious meal….or maybe a dead body. "<What would father think?>"

"<Oh, I think he would be very upset…>" cooed Beth. "<Why, he might be so upset that he'd take it out on the freak's daddy.>"

Tarzan paled. "<You wouldn't.>"

"<Wouldn't what? Have fun?>" Beth ran a hand over Tarzan's head. "<Oh, my stupid little hoomin, why would I want to stop _that?_ >"

Tarzan slapped Beth's hand away. "<Don't call me that. I'm not a hoomin. I'm as much an ape as you or Jer.>"

Beth's eyes grew wide and her nostrils flared. "<Did you just…. _attack_ me?>" She turned to her brother. "<Did she attack me, Tucker?>"

Now Tucker was grinning. That was never a good thing. "<Why yes, sister, I believe she did.>"

Beth looked back at Tarzan and shoved her down. "<Who do you think you are? You're nothing! You're not even _close_ to grown, unlike the rest of us! And you think you can attack _me?_ >" The female gorilla was looming over Tarzan as she struggled to back away. <"Do you _want_ to be banished from the troop? How do you think your precious Rendal would deal with that?>"

Tarzan's breath stopped at that. _Dad…_ "<Look, Beth, I...I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I won't do it again, I'll do anything you want, really, just...don't tell Kerchak, _please_.>" She hit something behind her and saw Jer, his eyes wide with fear at everything he was seeing. She turned back and saw Beth's face. She looked….thoughtful, like she was considering Tarzan's words.

"<Anything?>" Beth asked. There was a smile on her face that made Tarzan shiver despite the warm weather.

"<Anything,>" said Tarzan. 

Beth turned around and said something to Tucker, then looked back to her. "<You know, there _is_ something I've thought would be interesting to have, and since you seem to like collecting...strange things…>" She gestured around Tarzan, and Tarzan wasn't sure if she was referring to the feather, Jer, or both. _Probably both._

"<Okay…>" said Tarzan. "<What do you want me to get?>"

"<First, you have to keep up with us. Be seeing you!>" With that, Beth and Tucker took off, heading deeper into the jungle. Not wanting to lose them, Tarzan stood up and got moving, with Jer yelling after her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said at the end of chapter four, gorillas reach maturity at about age ten. What this means for Nicole/Tarzan is that while her and Jer and...others...are all pretty much the same age, they're adults while she is still just a kid. Interestingly enough, what this means for the Disney movie is that Rosie O'Donnell voicing Terk in the young Tarzan scenes actually fits biologically (although physically she should have been fully grown and not as small as she was)
> 
> Also, regarding Kerchak....in the original novels, he's both an insane ape and the one who killed Tarzan's parents, not Sabor the jaguar (looking at you, Disney). I went back and forth on including him, but ultimately did for reasons that we'll get to eventually. As for who his children are....well, heck that just was for fun, and we don't know anything about their parents in the show, so...yeah, that was for fun.
> 
> Finally, the parrots Tarzan encounters would be african grey parrots. They're about medium size for birds (thirteen inches), but can live for over twenty years in the wild, and in captivity can reach up to sixty years.


	7. Fool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tarzan gets a challenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, this chapter -- no, this whole _section!_ Everytime I thought I had a handle on it, something happened in the writing that made me move things around. My original thought was this 1897 section would just be two chapters, but then Doc and the Earps took center stage for a bit, and the flow required more expansion, so we're already at three chapters. It'll be worth it in the end, though. 
> 
>   
> Jungle notes after the story, as ever.

The water falling from the top of the cliff was both cold and clear. None of the residents of the jungle knew quite where it started or where it went, but the great fall was a well known spot. Many various birds made their nests in the holes along the cliff, feeding on either the juicier insects along the cliff or the fish in the river above or the lake below, according to their nature. More land-based animals, like the apes, tended to stick to the shallow edges at the bottom, cleaning themselves off with the water when extra care was required. The deeper waters were generally reserved for those animals that had mastered the art of living comfortably in the water -- the fish, the hippo, and the crocodile chief among them.

Closer to the rocks where the water fell from above, a herd of elephants stood bathing themselves. The water at that point was not too deep -- only up to their knees or so -- but it was still enough for a creature to sit comfortably in and cool off. The only creatures that would be in serious danger there were the non-swimming apes (or, at the very least, the youngest of them), those even smaller than the relatively shallow water, and anything unlucky enough to find itself under an elephant's foot or near a crocodile's jaw.

_< Well_...most _elephants_ >, thought Robin, as the young _tantor_ watched the rest of his herd clean themselves off. For himself, he was quite content to stay on the shore and clean himself off there, thank you very much. He approached the water carefully and yelled across to his mother, "<Are you _sure_ that's smart?>"

His mother sighed in annoyance as a low trumpet emerged from her trunk. "<For the last time, Robin, yes! You'll never get your full body clean if you just stick to the shallows!>"

"<Well, he _could_ ,>" said another elephant. "<If he gets some water in his trunk and just rolls around in water for a bit-->"

"Oh, don't be _ridiculous_ ," said a third. "<If he rolls around, all he'll get is covered in mud.>"

"<Not if he does it _in_ the water!>"

"<Oh, and if the kid drowns?>"

"<How can he drown in ankle-deep water?>"

"<Well, at his height-->"

Robin's mother trumpeted loudly. "<Will you two _stop it?_ >" she nearly screamed. "<Honestly, the way you're carrying on, you'll probably bring every crocodile in the jungle here!>"

A tiny trumpet of panic sounded from the shore, and the three larger animals turned to see a petrified Robin. "< _C_ _rocodiles?_ >"

Robin's mother sighed.

  
  
  
  
  


Tarzan skidded through the trees, bouncing off them almost as soon as she made contact in an effort to keep up with Tucker and Beth. They had a decent head start and were already ahead of her, but Tarzan was smart enough to recognize where they had been. The sound of water falling from some great height came from up ahead, and Tarzan made for it, bursting through the trees in an explosion of leaves and sound.

Just ahead of her and to her left was a giant waterfall, falling from a cliff many times her height. If every ape in the troop, the young and the old alike, stood on each other's shoulders, then _maybe_ they could reach the halfway mark of it. A herd of elephants stood cleaning themselves at the base of the waterfall in a pool that looked about as deep as Rendal was tall (not that he'd ever be caught dead in water). The pool emptied out into a river that threaded it's way deeper into the jungle, and it was that river's shore that Tarzan found herself at, just behind Beth and Tucker, who were staring at her with something like surprise. 

"<Hi, guys,>" she said with a smile, beating her chest in greeting. Before Beth and Tucker could respond, something slammed into Tarzan from behind and knocked her into the muddy sand at their feet. Groaning, she turned herself over and saw Jer behind her, picking himself up. She crawled over to him and wiped some mud off his face. He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "<Hey...I made it.>"

Tarzan couldn't help but laugh. "<Yeah, you did.>"

Beth let out a huff. "<Well, now that you're finally here, we can get on with things.>"

Tarzan was at attention immediately. "<I'm ready. What do you need?>"

"<It's simple,>" said Beth, in the tone of voice that normally meant what was being proposed was anything but. "<All you need to do is get….a hair.>"

Tarzan stared at Beth. "<That...that's it? A hair?>"

Beth nodded, a smug smile on her face, and pointed upstream. "<An _elephant_ hair.>"

Tarzan paled and looked upstream to where a herd of the creatures was bathing. Most seemed calm, if intimidating, but two looked to be in the middle of an argument as a third attempted to either calm them down or battle them into submission. She swallowed. "<An...elephant hair?>" Beth nodded, and Tarzan swallowed again. "<Why?>"

"<I told you, I want to see something,>" she replied. "<Of course, if you don't think you can do it…>"

"<Yes!>" screamed Jer. <Yes, that's exactly what she thinks! So sorry to bother you. It's been a lovely day, we must do it again sometime. Come on, Tarzan.>"

"<I can do it.>"

Jer choked and started pulling on her arm. "<No, you really can't, and shouldn't, and we're leaving, okay? Look, it's fine, it's just a hair, they've got plenty on their bodies already, and-- _TARZAN!!_ >"

Before Jer could stop her, Tarzan had pulled her arm free and was running into river. As the three apes watched, Tarzan disappeared beneath the water's surface. A moment passed, and then she broke through the surface and was waving towards them. "<Tarzan!>" Jer yelled. "<Get back over here! You're gonna kill yourself, and then Rendal is gonna kill me!>"

"<Nah, I'll be fine,>" she shouted back. "<It's just one hair. How hard can that be?>" Without waiting for an answer, Tarzan turned and began swimming upstream towards the herd.

"<Good luck!>" called Beth. "<We'll be waiting!>" As Tarzan paddled away, she turned to Tucker. "<Well, that was unexpected.>"

Tucker smiled. "<She actually fell for it. Sister, you're a genius.>"

Jer looked between the two. "<Fell for what?>"

Beth turned and looked at him as though he were an old fruit that could be either sweet or sour. "<Oh, you're still here?>"

"<Fell for what?>" he repeated.

Beth smiled. "<Well, your little friend is always so brave and bold, so we were curious if we could get her to piss off the largest animals in the jungle.>"

Jer could only gape at her. "<But….but elephants are huge! They could stomp her into dust! She might die!>"

"<Really? Oh, I hadn't considered that...Tucker, had you considered that?>"

Tucker's smile was low and mean. "<Why, no. I never once considered that.>"

Beth leaned up and nuzzled her brother. "<Good. I'd be incredibly disappointed if you had.>" She pulled away from him and began walking upstream. "<Come. Let's see if we can get a better seat. Are you coming, Jer?>"

Jer watched the children of their troop leader walk away, and then he shook his head and reluctantly followed. "<Yup, Rendal is _definitely_ gonna kill me for this…">

  
  
  
  


Tarzan slowly made her way closer to the elephants and where they stood cleaning themselves, her mind furiously arguing with her over how stupid and reckless she was being.

_ <Rendal is gonna be _ so _mad at you if he finds out about this. You_ do _realize that, right?_ >

< _It'll be fine. I'll get close, nab a leg hair off one of them, swim back to Beth, and we'll be gone before anyone knows._ >

< _Oh, really? Just like that? Have you already forgotten how much_ smaller _than an elephant you are? Because if that's the case,_ LOOK! _> _

Tarzan stopped swimming for a moment and did indeed look, her head being the only thing poking above the surface as her long hair, darkened by the water, drifted behind her. She was much closer to the herd now, and could count at least eight elephants -- no, nine; there was one more, a young one about halfway between the shore and the herd.

Slowly, Tarzan paddled forward, trying to make as little noise as possible. The young one on the shore began making some noise, and Tarzan took a deep breath and dove beneath the surface. Although her vision was now blurry, she had a good idea of where the main concentration of elephants was. She maneuvered herself until she was underneath one of the bigger elephants and broke the surface, gasping for air. 

Once she could breathe again, Tarzan looked around warily. None of the elephants had noticed her yet, although she could hear a small splashing to her right as the little one joined the rest of the group. One of the beast moved over to him and suddenly Tarzan had an almost clear view of the shore, with Beth and Tucker and Jer sitting on a rock pile fairly close to it. She gave them a wave, and smiled when Jer waved back. 

Her mind yelled at her again for being stupid and wasting time, and reluctantly Tarzan listened. She examined the elephant closest to her and saw a wide collection of hairs there, just waiting to be plucked. Tarzan smiled to herself. "<Well, she never said _where_ the hair had to be from... _> _ " she reasoned. She reached forward and her hand brushed the hairs, and the giant above her twitched at the movement. The movement disturbed the water and without thinking, Tarzan grabbed hold of the hair and _yanked._ The hair came off almost instantly, and despite her situation, Tarzan grinned.

The elephant screamed in pain, and began turning around in a panic. Before she knew it, the other elephants were also screaming in fear of something and running everywhere, making huge waves that tossed Tarzan in every direction. A gigantic body crashed down beside her, and suddenly she was flying up, up, up…

She stopped going up.

She fell, and her mind had time for a single thought ( _This is going to kill Rendal_ ) before she landed facedown in the still churning water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The type of elephants shown here are African forest elephants. They generally reach a height between eight and ten feet tall (two and a half to three meters), are grey in color, and live sixty to seventy years...meaning Tarzan might finally have a playmate that ages and matures as fast as she does
> 
> Speaking of, while Tarzan is definitely capable of swimming, gorillas, thanks to their size, are not. At best they would wade around in the shallows, so any actual water immersion generally results in.....well, anyway....
> 
> Finally, Tarzan's hair. While the popular belief is that hair would keep growing and growing, most of the time the calls die and replace themselves around the 36 inch mark. This does depend a lot on genetics and how well the hair is taken care of, and technically the record for longest hair in the world belongs to Xie Qiuping of China, who set the record in 2004 with over 18 feet of hair, but since Tarzan is living in the jungle with no access to a salon, don't expect her hair to go much past her waist ever.


	8. Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The consequences of recent and past actions are revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, this chapter was a beast (no pun intended). I wrote the entire second part in one big sitting on Friday, and the rest between then and Monday. It's definitely one of my longest chapters and is making me realize this might be so much bigger than I originally anticipated. Thanks for staying with me, and Merry Whatever to you!

Robin sighed dramatically as he sprayed himself off with water from his trunk. He didn't care how often his mother reassured him-- if there was even a chance of a crocodile out there, then he was definitely staying on land. Maybe  _ they _ could be on land too, but at least on land he could see them before they attacked and have  _ some _ chance at getting away.

Clean now, he looked out to where his mother still stood talking to her friends. If past cleanings were any indication, they would be out there for a while yet. Since none of the other calves were near enough to his age to hang out with him (at least, that was the excuse they usually used, and it was as good as any), he looked around for something to do. There weren't any birds nearby, and he wasn't especially hungry. There was a small group of gorillas about his age nearby, though. A couple of them were excitedly pointing at something in the water, and--

< _ Crocodile! _ >

Robin gasped, his eyes going wide and a little honk of fear escaping his trunk. Sure enough, there was a long reddish stripe with a white snout heading towards where the family was bathing. Panicked, he ran out towards where the others were still calmly spraying the dirt and bugs off of each other. "<Crocodile!>" he shouted, splashing around. "<There's a crocodile! Right here! I saw one!>"

His mother looked at him indulgently. <Of course you did, honey.>" She turned away from him and went back to washing herself off.

Not one to be deterred (now), Robin ran around to her other side. "<Mom, I'm serious! I definitely saw one-->"

"<Robin,  _ not now.  _ Mommy is  _ trying _ to-->"

"< _ Something bit my leg!!! _ >" screamed one of the others. 

"< _ Crocodile!> _ " screamed another.

Robin trumpeted triumphantly. "<I  _ told _ you!>" Before he could be congratulated, the once peaceful bathing turned into chaos. Within seconds, the entire herd was stamping around, trying to form a protective circle around the young...which included Robin, unfortunately. Robin heard a splash behind him and screamed. One of the adults grabbed him and pulled him close, but Robin leaned forward to see….

A pale white shape, definitely  _ not _ a crocodile but with hair that was almost the right shade to be mistaken for a crocodile, burst out of the water, gasping for air. The adults screamed and ran for the shore, but the shape and Robin stayed there, getting thrown about by the waves kicked up. As Robin looked for something to grab onto, he felt something grab his trunk and saw the shape holding on to a vine in one hand and his trunk in the other. It didn't say anything, and Robin paddled as hard as he could towards it. After a few seconds, the water calmed down enough that they weren't being tossed in every direction, and Robin said, "<You know, you can probably let go of me now.>"

"<Huh? Oh...right>" The not-a-crocodile released his trunk and just stared at him as Robin moved closer to it. He stared at it curiously and said, "<You're not a crocodile.>"

The not-a-crocodile's eyes squinted at him. "<No, I'm not. I'm Tarzan.>"

"<Oh. I'm Robin. Hi.>"

"<Hi.>" A crashing sound came from the jungle, and Tarzan cringed. "<Sorry for scaring your family like that.>"

"<It's okay. They weren't doing anything exciting. We should probably get to shore, though. This way.>" Robin turned and swam for the shore, and some splashing behind him indicated that Tarzan was following him. Once they were out of the water, Robin looked at his new friend.  _ Definitely a girl _ , he observed, his eyes skating over the relevant area. She wasn't an animal he knew right away, though. He frowned. "<So what are you?>"

Before Tarzan could answer, a dark shape collided with her and tackled her to the ground with a cry. Robin leapt onto it and shouted, "<Hey! Get off of my friend!>"

"<She's my friend! You get off!>"

"<Can maybe  _ both _ of you get off? I can't breathe!>" The young elephant and his opponent, a gorilla, looked down and saw that Tarzan was indeed currently being crushed by their combined weight. They got off and Robin ran to her side in case she needed help standing.

The gorilla, meanwhile, was wringing his hands frantically. "<How are you alive? You should be dead! We heard that splash, and then all the elephants were panicking-->"

"< _ I  _ wasn't,>" Robin put in.

"<\--and then they ran for the shore, and Tucker and Beth ran off, and now you're here, and...and…>"

Tarzan stood up and went over to her friend. "<Easy, Jer, I'm fine. You said Tucker and Beth are gone?>"

The gorilla -- Jer -- nodded, still slightly panicked. "<Yeah, they got just ahead of the stampede.>"

Tarzan laughed. "<Gee, that's too bad. And I went to all that trouble…>" She opened her hand to reveal a few leg hairs from one of the older elephants.

Jer's mouth fell open. "<You….you got them?>"

Robin studied the hairs, confused. "<I don't get it.>"

Tarzan shrugged. "<We were with a couple other apes. They said they wanted me to get them some elephant hairs, so...I did.>"

Jer raised his hand. "<Actually, they said after you left that they just wanted you to get hurt and/or killed.>"

"<Yeah, that doesn't surprise me.>"

Robin examined the leg hairs, then looked at the other two. "<So...you just wanted some hair? Why didn't you just ask?>"

"<Ummm…>" Tarzan looked at Jer, who shrugged. "<There wasn't a chance?>"

Robin looked at her, then at Jer. No one said anything, and after a moment, he began to giggle. Tarzan smiled at his reaction and soon she and Jer were laughing too...at the task, at the outcome, and at everything that had happened.

"<Tarzan!>" 

The three friends turned and saw Rendal running out of the jungle, worry etched across every line of his face. Tarzan, still smiling, tried to get herself under control. "<Hi, Dad,>" she said casually.

Robin glanced at Jer and mouthed  _ Dad?  _ at the young ape. Jer shrugged and nodded. Rendal, meanwhile, was frantically checking Tarzan for injuries. "<Are you hurt? Are you okay? What happened?>"

The three youths glanced nervously between each other.

"<Well..>"

"<What happened was-->"

"<We were just-->"

"<It was her, Father! She's the one! She made this happen!>"

The four creatures turned at the sound of the voice. Beth was pointing an accusing finger towards Tarzan. Next to her, an angry-looking Kerchak was taking in the scene. With anger radiating from his body, he stalked over to Tarzan, pushed Rendal to the side, and growled, "<Say what you did.>"

Tarzan swallowed. "<I...I…>"

Rendal tried to get between the two. "<Kerchak, be reasonable. Whatever happened was an accident. She-->"

"<An  _ accident?! _ >" roared Kerchak. "<Those elephants nearly trampled the entire troop, Rendal! My own children nearly died, and you say accident?!>" He shoved Tarzan into the dirt and held her there with one paw, his face inches from hers. "<What. Happened.>"

Tarzan swallowed. "<I..I wanted to get a hair.>"

Kerchak pulled back slightly, surprise and confusion battling for position on his face. "<What?>"

The words came pouring out of her. "<I followed Beth and Tucker down here and she said she wanted an elephant hair so I said I'd get her one and when I did the elephants panicked and ran, and...and…>" Tarzan looked around her. Jer and Robin both moved to support her, but Rendal just looked ashamed, and that hurt so much worse.

Kerchak, meanwhile, had turned to Beth. "<You wanted an elephant hair?>"

Beth merely shrugged. "<I didn't think she'd actually  _ do _ it.>" Beside her, Tucker giggled.

Kerchak glared at both of them, then shook his head. "<Either way, the fault isn't with you.>" He turned back to Tarzan, his face clouding with anger again. "<You, however, endangered all of us over nothing more than a desire to prove yourself. You were irresponsible and reckless and could have made someone die. Would you want that? Would that  _ please _ you?>"

Tarzan's face fell, and Rendal stepped up. "<Kerchak, she's only a child-->"

"<She's ten years old and should be an adult. You want her to be treated as equal? What would  _ you _ do with an ape that threatened the safety of every member of her community?>" He faced Tarzan and growled, "<You're banished. You are no longer a part of this troop. Leave now.">

The other apes in the troop burst with shock at the decision. No one seemed to know what to do or say. Robin moved up behind her and laid his trunk on her shoulder. "<Hey, it'll be alright. You can come home with me, and-->"

Before he could finish speaking, Tarzan threw him off and went running into the jungle. Kerchak grinned smugly as she left, leaving Rendal and Jer calling after her, but it was useless.

She was gone.

Tarzan ran through the jungle, tears falling from her eyes. Someone was shouting after her, but she didn't care. Kerchak had kicked her out, but she didn't care. Jer would be defenseless without her there to back him up, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to just run and hide and never stop. Maybe if she was lucky, she'd find a hole and could become some kind of spirit, haunting the jungle and scaring any who came near. That would be appropriate.

She paid no attention to where she was heading. She just wanted to get as far away from Rendal and the rest of the troop as possible. The look on his face when Kerchak had banished her...if Tarzan lived to be a thousand moons old, she would never forget that look, as though the mere act of seeing her and hearing what she'd done caused him physical pain. It was not a look she had ever wanted to cause her dad to have, and the only way to not see that look was to get as far away as possible.

Her foot caught on something as she ran, and before she knew it she was falling. Her body bounced and rolled as she tried to figure out which way was up. When she came to a stop, it was at the bottom of a hill. She could hear the big water nearby and realized, whether she meant to or not, she'd been running towards the water and the setting sun, and was now quite close to the edge. Not having anywhere else to go anymore, she went towards it.

As she emerged from the trees, the setting sun caught her eyes and she raised a hand to cover them. Once she'd adjusted, she lowered her hand and saw…..blue. So much blue. It was as though someone had taken all the water that was coming down to the falls where she'd met Robin, laid it out, and done that over and over until there was no space left. She had thought the jungle big, but this….this was beyond anything she _ever_ could have thought. She should have been scared by it, but all she could do was stare forward, wondering how much more there was.

Without knowing why, she threw her head back and howled. The sound was long, and low, and sad. She did it again, and again. Eventually, the howls started to jump up and down and become cries, and Tarzan felt something coming out of her eyes. They fell and hit the sand beneath her, and Tarzan let them. The water kept coming from her as she cried, and she curled up on the sand and let the big water wash over her.

"<You okay?>"

The voice startled her and Tarzan leapt up, arms raised in defense. When she saw it was Rendal, she lowered her arms and immediately ran forward. The big ape knelt and hugged her. "<Ah, kid...I'm sorry.>"

"< _I'm_ sorry!>" Tarzan cried into his arm. "<I messed up so bad, Dad! Now Kerchak's banned me, and you're all alone in the troop now, and...and…>" Tarzan blinked. She pulled out of the hug and looked at Rendal, confused. "<Wait, why are you here? He didn't...did he throw you out, too?>"

"< _No_ ,>" Rendal said emphatically. "<He didn't ban me. I talked to him, and he said if I can find you and bring you back, and if you apologize, then he'll let you stay.>"

"<Really?>"

"<Really. He gave me until tomorrow night.>"

Tarzan just sat in the sand. "<I did mess up, though.>"

Rendall sat next to her. "<Yeah...that's true. That's why you gotta apologize, though.>"

"<Why?>"

<"Well, because Tucker and-->"

"<No, why am I like this? I don't look anything like the other apes! I'm not as hairy, or as big, and I'm the same age as Tucker and Beth and Jer, but they're all so much bigger than I am! Why am I so much smaller? Why am I _different?_ >"

Tarzan stared into Rendal's eyes and frowned, challenging him. Rendal sighed and looked around. He came to a decision. "<Come on,>" he said.

The older ape began walking down the beach, keeping the sun on his right. For a Tarzan followed him, and after some time she heard him say, "<You know where we are?>"

"<The jungle?>"

Rendal shook his head and kept going forward. "<Not quite.>"

Tarzan frowned and looked around them. They were bordering the jungle, the ocean was on their right… "<The beach?>"

Rendal nodded. "<Not long after Kala and I...lost...our first child, I heard a crying. I followed it, and eventually came to...something I'd never seen. It was...well, I'm not sure how to describe it, really, but inside….well…>"

Rendall gestured upwards, and Tarzan saw that while they had traveled, they had come to the top of a cliff. There was a bridge across it to leading to a tree, and in that tree was something that was both odd to Tarzan and strangely familiar….like a place she had been but couldn't remember. She pulled up next to Rendal. "<Where are we, Dad?>"

Rendal didn't say anything. He instead began crossing the bridge. Tarzan followed, and while the bridge swayed dangerously, it held. As they neared the place, Tarzan's nose suddenly picked up a few scents, almost entirely faded away. There was Rendal's, but also….

She sniffed again. Slowly, she approached the base of the tree. Bones were piled near its base -- no; not piled, _placed._ There were two sets next to each other. They looked like they'd been placed there with some care. Tarzan turned back to Rendal, who nodded encouragingly. She looked at the bones again, and the shape of them looked...familiar. Like an ape, except not. She looked back to Rendal, and the big ape was heading into the building. Tarzan followed him and looked around. Her eyes were drawn to an oddly shaped leaf that was fluttering in one corner. She picked it up and saw that one side had an image on it. A family of apes, only…she picked up the leaf and looked closer at it. The image was faded, but the apes in it were hairless, like her. There was a male and a female, and…

"<By the time I'd come in, Bobo had already been here. The two big ones were….>" He didn't complete the sentence. He didn't have to. "<I heard something crying up above, and….there you were, crying and confused, and as loud as you are now. Bobo came back, being all sorts of threatening, so I grabbed you, and…>"

Tarzan didn't say anything. She looked at the leaf and went back to where the skeletons lay outside. Their bones were incredibly pale and dusty, and looked as though even the lightest touch would cause them to fall apart. Her hand reached out for one when she felt it stopped by Rendal, who shook his head and led her up some pieces of wood to another area. There was what looked like a sleeping area here, and the scent of her was even stronger, if faded. Beside the sleeping area were a number of things with more leaves stuck in each one. Tarzan picked up a smaller one and opened it. The image she saw was of one of the long yellow fruits next to something that looked like a stick with two big hills sticking out of it. She traced the shape, her finger going up the line, then tracing the first hill down to about the middle of the stick, then following the second hill out until it reached the bottom of the first line. 

Rendal padded up next to her. "<What is it?>"

Tarzan frowned. "<It's more leaves, like the one with…>" She stopped, unable to say the word.

Rendal could. "<Your parents.>"

Tarzan nodded. "<...like the one with them on it. This one has a banana on it and some kind of...fat tree, I guess. Then this one...it looks like Robin and his family, but there's another shape….>" She threw the image holder against the wall and turned to Rendal. "<Why did you bring me here?>"

Rendal looked at her sadly. "<You deserved to know. I should've told you a while ago, but…>"

"<So I'm not an ape.>"

Rendal hesitated, but finally nodded.

Tarzan swallowed nervously. "<Beth...Beth called me hoomin. She's done that before. Am I…>" She trailed off, and Rendal just looked at her, his eyes telling her the truth. She swallowed again. "<Am I still your daughter?>"

"<Oh, Tarzan…>" said Rendal. He moved closer to her and wrapped her up in a hug as sobs shook her body. "<I might not have been the one to make you exist, but you are my daughter in every way that matters. Anyone that says different is just jealous of how great we are.>"

Tarzan laughed against Rendal's fur, then sighed. "<I don't even know my name.>"

"<I do,>" said Rendal.

"<You do?>"

Rendal nodded. "<Tarzan.>"

Tarzan laughed again and pulled back, her eyes still wet. "<Yeah...guess Beth was right.>"

"<No need to tell her that.>" 

Tarzan's lips quirked in a small smile. "<Guess I need to apologize to Kerchak now.>"

Rendal nodded. "<So...you're done? You're okay?>"

"<For now.>"

Rendal let out a grunt of confusion at Tarzan's non-answer but said nothing. The two left as they came in, and began the journey back to the troop. Once there, Tarzan slowly approached Kerchak, eyes down, and offered her palm in supplication and deference. The ape recognized her action and, true to his promise, accepted her. She was back in the troop. 

Although she was glad to be back, a part of her remained away. In coming weeks and months, a part of her would find itself drawn back to the place she had found her parents. Sometimes, even her body would go back there, both alone and with Rendal. She would examine the many images, practicing the shapes in them until she could draw them all in the dirt by memory. She had no idea what they sounded like, and could not fully understand what they were telling her, but that was okay. Her parents had come here, and sooner or later, some other group was bound to come by, and she would learn what they sounded like then, she was sure. 

It would happen, in time. She was sure. She just had to wait….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, baby elephants really are called calves, transitioning to cows or bulls when they get older. This makes my heart smile.
> 
> As far as the stampede goes, both gorillas and elephants have a top speed of about 25 mph...definitely enough for panicked elephants to endanger a bunch of non-moving gorillas, in other words
> 
> While apes can cry (vocally), they can't actually weep tears. Incidentally, I'd be curious how most people first pronounced the chapter title. That is, would it rhyme with cares or fears.
> 
> On a more grim note, the skeletonzation process for an open-air body can be up to several years, and the bones, depending on climate, can stick around for twenty or more years after that.


	9. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In London, people plan for a journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's a chapter! Sorry I missed last week, but it might have been worth it. Things are flowing again, and it's starting to come together....

_ April, 1912 _

_ London _

It was quiet, as most days were now. For the past two weeks, everyone in the country had been on edge as more news trickled in about the disaster in the north Atlantic. Most people were still mourning the loss of over a thousand people, and folks everywhere seemed to have an extra layer of fear in their eyes whenever the words 'ocean voyage' were brought up.

For Earp Shipping and Travel, that meant two things. One -- their days were a lot less busy than they normally were, which in turn meant that Wynonna had more time for both drinking whatever liquor she found around the office or homestead (which today happened to be an old bourbon that anyone else would call turned but which Wynonna simply called lunch) and for "entertaining" people in the office which none believed she ran until they noticed that of the two offices on the top floor, neither had a man's name next to it.

Wynonna chuckled to herself as she thought of her latest visitor. The names blended together after a while, but what she could remember -- dark skin, a deep voice, strong eyes -- had certainly lit a fire in her that she hadn't felt in a while. Maybe she'd look him up when she was done for the day...or, if things continued to be quiet--

A harsh ringing interrupted her train of not-at-all work appropriate thoughts. Wynonna groaned and glared at the bell Waverly had installed in her office that hooked up to a rope downstairs. Theoretically, whenever there was a customer down there and neither of them were in sight, a person would pull once on the string next to the desk (which had a sign attached to it which read "pull to be served" which Wynonna had found obscenely funny but had only earned an eyeroll from her little sister) and one of them (usually the more personable Waverly) would be down shortly to help that person.

In practice, and especially with people like the one downstairs that felt only continuously yanking the string had any effect (and wasn't  _ that _ a telling metaphor, probably), the bell was Wynonna's sworn enemy and deserved the most painful of deaths. Narrowing her eyes and emptying the bottle into her mouth, Wynonna took careful aim and launched the bottle through the air.

For a second it seemed as though her aim would be as true as anything Grandpa Wyatt had ever shot, but then the door opened and in walked Waverly from her own office across the hall. Instead of hitting the bell, the bottle was cut off by the now open door, detoured into the wall, and went crashing to the ground.

Waverly didn't even raise an eyebrow. She merely crossed her arms and said, "Now why would you go and attack Anna like that?"

Wynonna leaned back and kicked her legs up onto the desk. "Who?"

"Anna. Your bell. Remember? I set them up and you said that it was stupid, and I told you it was cute, and you said that if they were cute we should name them, and I asked what, and you said Annabelle and Clarabelle -- oh, never mind." Waverly sighed and grabbed a broom from the corner of the office. "Just stop doing nothing and get down there. It's our first  _ actual _ walk-in customer all month."

"I'm busy." 

Now Waverly did raise an eyebrow at her. "Busy." 

The tone of her sister's response was of one who'd just been told that humans were capable of flight, but Wynonna pressed on. "Yup.  _ Super _ busy."

"Okay, I'll bite. Doing what?"

"I'm looking at…" Wynonna reached out and grabbed the first thing on her desk she saw. "Expense reports."

Waverly's eyebrow rose even higher as she finished cleaning the remains of Wynonna's former lunch, replaced the broom, and leaned back against the wall as the bells in their offices continued to ring out. "Expense reports," she repeated.

"Yup."

"You."

"Jeez, don't sound so grateful, Waves. You'll hurt my feelings."

"You  _ hate  _ expense reports. Hell, you hate all paperwork in general."

"Not true. Expense reports are great. I love them."

Since she was physically incapable of raising her eyebrow any more, Waverly switched to rolling her eyes instead. "Fine. Tell me  _ one _ thing about that expense report and what it means for --  _ Christ, we hear you, alright? We'll be down in a second! _ " The ringer stopped their assault on the Earp's ears as though the rope downstairs has suddenly turned red-hot, and Waverly angrily pointed a finger at a grinning Wynonna. "Expense reports. Go."

"Easy. Expense reports let us know where our profits come from. Profits mean money, and money means cash, and cash means more whiskey to replace the bottle you just broke." Wynonna held out her hands before her as if to say  _ Really, Waverly, you should know this. _

"Actually, Wynonna..." said Waverly slowly. "Expense reports tell us where we're spending money each month...and where do you think that money comes from?"

Wynonna shrugged. "The bank?"

Waverly crossed the room and sat herself on the corner of Wynonna's desk, her responsible-looking skirt a sharp contrast to both her attitude and Wynonna's more cavalier look -- a combination of a dark jacket, tight leggings, and a loose red top that all totaled would have looked more at home on the American frontier than a shipping company in London. "Yes, Wynonna, money comes from the bank--"

"Cool. Score one for me," said Wynonna, already looking for another bottle

"-- _ assuming  _ that we have a steady source of income to store in said bank and pay our bills with...income which has been relatively dry these past weeks,  _ so… _ " Waverly slid off the desk and pulled Wynonna to her feet. "That means having to deal with clients and customers...even annoying ones that like ringing bells overmuch."

A protracted groan came from Wynonna as Waverly released her and she fell back into her seat. "Look, can't you deal with whoever it is this time? I really don't feel like being Miss Charming right now, and since there's no voyages to plan--"

"Then the only other thing for you to do,  _ per our agreement _ , is to deal with customers and maybe find a way to get back to that quick route planning you so long for."

Wynonna's mouth moved but no sound came out. She frowned as she realized how roundly she'd been outwitted. With a sigh, she got up. "Fine, I'll go, but I reserve the right to not say anything the whole time."

Waverly squealed excitedly and pulled Wynonna towards the stairs leading to the ground floor. "See? That's the spirit! We go down there, set them up, maybe take a vacation with them if they're cute…."

Wynonna's eyes flashed to her sister's face to make sure she was joking as they reached the ground floor. The man waiting for them was definitely not cute, at least by any definition Wynonna cared to use. Easily six feet tall, their lone customer radiated confidence, as though everything he saw was automatically his. Muscles visible beneath his tailored jacket gave at least the suggestion of strength, and his short cropped hair spoke of time in some country's military, although given that he didn't look much older than them, he couldn't have served very long. His gaze found them and went straight past Wynonna to linger on Waverly a bit longer than Wynonna was comfortable with. 

For her part, Waverly had already slipped into service mode, which meant using her "public voice". In a perfectly toned Britsih accent, she said, "Yes, hello? What can we do for you, Mr….?"

The man grinned, and Wynonna instantly felt a desire to see how many teeth she could take out with one punch. "Hardy. James Hardy, though most folks call me Champ."

"Ooo, Champ. That sounds impressively American," cooed Waverly, laying on the flattery. "And what would you be the champion of?"

Hardy's eyebrows knitted together, and Wynonna was suddenly sure the idea of his nickname being part of that word for a  _ reason _ had never once occured to him. He smoothed his jacket and grinned. "Why, anything I want, beautiful."

_ Kill me _ . Wynonna cleared her throat and stepped up beside Waverly. "Well, this is a business, not a brothel or bar, so if you're looking to--" A flare of pain in her right shin and a look from Waverly cut off that line of dialogue. She glared at her sister and started over. "That is...how can we help you today?" 

If Hardy was perturbed at Wynonna's lack of the 'sir' honorific, he got over it quickly. "Well, you rent out boats, right?"

"We do indeed," said Waverly. "Our shipping rates vary depending on the size and amount of your cargo, but--"

"What about people?"

Waverly stuttered for a second. "S-sorry? You want to...rent people?"

"If only," Hardy replied. "I'm setting up an expedition down to the continent, and we need a decent sized vessel to get us there. There's not many of us, but we'd need transportation and some other reasonable care once we get down there."

Waverly glanced at Wynonna, her earlier confidence gone. Wynonna stepped up and leaned forward. "So you're asking to….just take one of our ships on a three month long holiday?"

Hardy shrugged. "You can come if it's that big a deal. I have the cash...enough to pay for both of you."

Before Wynonna could react to  _ that _ poorly phrased statement, Hardy had reached into his pocket and withdrawn an enormous stack of notes. Wynonna's eyes grew wide as Waverly picked the stack up and quickly counted its value. Her face grew pale as she looked at her sister. "Wynonna….there's forty thousand dollars here."

Wynonna nearly choked. "Not exactly walking around money."

Hardy laughed. "What can I say? If you've got it, why hide it."

"Would you excuse us?" Waverly said quickly, pushing Wynonna into the downstairs office and slamming the door. She turned to her sister and held the money out. "Forty thousand dollars, Wynonna. He just handed us forty thousand dollars!"

"Yeah, I noticed."

Waverly was pacing back and forth. "This is huge. We take this, and it should more than cover our backlog for the month, and help with any issues we get until things pick up again."

"I don't know, I've been pretty regular myself." 

Waverly stopped pacing and planted herself in front of Wynonna. "Wynonna, I'm serious."

"I know," she said. "Sorry, baby girl, it's just...you did  _ see  _ that guy, right? I'm pretty sure he undressed you in his head at least three times while we were out there."

"Only three?" Waverly quipped. Wynonna rolled her eyes and made to leave, but Waverly grabbed her again. "Okay, fine, you're right -- he's a pig, but he's a well-paying pig who just offered to pay for a vacation for us with enough left over to keep us afloat until and after we get back."

Wynonna really wanted to disagree, but she knew Waverly was right. "Fine, but if he tries anything…"

"You'll break his dick and kick him to the moon," Waverly finished. She went back outside the office and walked up to Hardy. "Mr. Hardy?"

Hardy grinned. "Champ, please."

"Of course...Champ." Waverly held up the cash and smiled her brightest smile at their new client. "Consider us at your disposal."

  
  
  
  
  


Two hours later and approximately ten miles northwest of the Earps, Champ strode into his friend's bar, a big grin on his face. That in itself wasn't unusual -- being rich  _ and _ American  _ and  _ young  _ and  _ single in a city as full of gorgeous and giving women as London did wonders for his libido, after all. What was unusual, however, was the  _ reason _ for his smile. He looked around the room and shouted, "Griffin! Where are you, man?"

A towel hit his face, and for a moment Champ nearly unleashed his wrath on his assailant...until he saw who had thrown it. Turning on the charm, he sat at the bar and addressed the young Mexican woman who had attacked him. "Hello, Rosi. Feel like getting a drink?"

"If it'll shut your  _ desagradable  _ mouth up, yes." The young bartender began pulling some bottles off the shelf. "What the hell are you doing, Hardy? You know Henry's usually sleeping now."

"Oh, he'll wake up for this, Rosi. Trust me."

"It seems that I am already awake, young man," said a voice from the second floor. "As for wanting to be, well… that depends both on what you desire to say and the rate at which you say it."

Champ turned and saw the old man descending from one of the rooms above. Though he'd never told Champ his age (or much of anything about himself), he had to be at least sixty years old, and American -- the faint trace of an accent told even Champ that much. There was a bushy gray mustache beneath a cracked and misshapen nose, and when he moved, it was as though hours of thought went into each step and shift of weight. The only part of him that still looked young were his eyes -- blazing blue and somehow both focused and restless, as though they were seeing everything in the world all at once...and tracking it.

Champ raised a glass to his friend. "Hello, Henry."

Henry grunted and took a seat at the bar. "Rosita, darling, would you be a dear and kindly fix me something that I might better face the day with?"

"Energy or focus?" inquired the bartender.

"Focus, if you could." Rosita nodded and selected a combination of bottles from each shelf as Henry and Champ watched. "You know, Hardy--"

"Champ."

"--one of the many things I admire in a woman is intellect. Take Rosita, here. Ran away from trouble back in Mexico, made her way here, and in her first week managed to dazzle me with the many ways she could combine and recombine drinks to make anyone feel anything. A true scientist of the tavernical arts, she is."

"Yeah, and a smart enough human to tell you that tavernical isn't a word." Rosita threw the drink across the bar, and Henry caught it and downed it in one swallow. His eyes shut in pain as he let out a muffled shout, but seconds later he was looking more awake and aware than he had since coming down. He raised the glass in thanks, and Rosita rolled her eyes and went to clean tables. As Champ watched her from behind, Henry spoke up. "Now then...were you successful in your quest?" 

"Oh, yeah," said Champ. "Got the ship paid for, and we set sail in a week."

"Excellent. I am most happy for you." Henry raised his glass to take another drink, then paused. "Hold it now...when you say we…"

"What, you didn't think I'd arrange a hunting trip to Africa and not secure passage for two of my favorite people in this city, did you?"

"I confess, I had rather hoped that would be the case." Henry sighed. "James, I am not a young man. You do realize this, yes?"

"You don't need to be young, Hank, but come on! A guy like you, you've definitely been around. I bet my entire fortune there's not a better tracker on this side or any other of the Atlantic!"

Henry's mustache twitched. "Now  _ what _ would make you say that?" he asked, and Champ knew he was getting close to agreeing. 

"Just a hunch, but even still….you don't want to just be a bar owner for the rest of your life, do you? Why not recapture some of the glory of your youth at the same time I find mine?"

"Glory…" said Henry. "James, my youth...it may have been many things, but glorious is not how I would describe it, all things considered."

"Henry, come on….I told those girls I'd have a crew with me. You don't want to make me a liar, do you?"

"You hardly need me for…" Henry paused, the drink halfway to his lips. He looked curiously at Champ. "What girls?"

Champ shrugged. "The Earp girls, the ones who are taking us down there."

Before Champ's eyes, Henry's whole attitude changed. His eyes widened, his skin paled, and the hand holding his drink fell open, sending the glass falling to the floor. He looked at Champ and seemed almost fearful. "Did...did you say Earp? As in Wyatt?"

Something clicked in Champ's head. "Hey, yeah! Shit, I didn't even think of that...that old cowboy had a whole family no one knew about! How about that, huh?"

A thin smile appeared on Henry's face. "Two daughters...how about that."

"Well, granddaughters, probably. They're closer to my age than yours, old timer."

Henry grunted again, but he seemed different than earlier….almost eager. He turned to Champ, and the look on his face gave Champ hope. "You know….hell with it. The world can live without this dingy old place for a month or two. I'm in."

"Excellent!" said Champ. "You won't regret this, Henry!" Champ finished his drink and let out a whoop of excitement. "Just think, this time next month, you and me will be tracking the most dangerous game in Africa!" He clapped Henry on the shoulder and ran out.

"It'll be an experience, I'm sure," said Henry quietly to Champ's departing back. Rosita came up beside him, a look of concern on her face. He returned the stare with one of his own. "Problem?"

Rosita bit her lip. "It's just...Earps?"

"Earps never did me wrong, Rosita. You know that."

"Yeah? And what about the other way around?"

Henry sighed. "That was a long time ago."

"Okay, and what if they find out who you are, huh? What if they realize their--" Henry's hand shot out as he covered her mouth. He held it there for a moment, and Rosita relaxed and nodded. He removed it, and she looked up at him. "I can't talk you out of this, can I?"

Henry shook his head. "I fear not, darling."

"Can the darling shit, Doc," snapped Rosita. "Fine, you want to go down there, go. On one condition."

Knowing what was coming, Doc simply said, "Yes?"

"I'm coming with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did my best to find out what effect the sinking of the Titanic would have had on shipping and transportation companies in the months following the disaster. I couldn't find anything solid except that there were many sites of mourning on both sides of the Atlantic and that the first solid reports weren't had until the Carpathian steamed into New York with the survivors. Thus, I ended up taking a guess based on human nature. Hopefully it's not too much of a contradiction.
> 
> Also, to settle curious thoughts, the Titanic launched from docks at Southampton, on the western side of England. We're in London on the east, so all inquiries and major mourning centers are on the other side of the country from us.
> 
> Finally, some famous fictional character made his debut in 1912, which is why I wanted to set the main story then. Anyone wanna guess who?


	10. Grown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old enemy returns...

The morning sun was already shining brightly by the time Tarzan emerged from her parents nest. Since reaching maturity ( _finally!_ ), she had been spending more time here and less time with the troop proper. She might still offically be a member of the troop, but given the feelings that had developed between her and Kerchak over the years, her and Rendal had ultimately thought it best if she began spending some time away whenever possible. Thus, whenever she could, she stayed in her parents' old nest, looking at the leafs they had left behind and learning their words as much as an ape who'd never heard them and only had a bunch of drawings could.

Not that Tarzan was bothered by this. She had spent so much time with the troop that their movements were as much a part of her as her legs or her hair. She grinned and ran across the _b-r-i-d-g-e_ her hoomin parents had made connecting their nest (a _h-o-u-s-e_ , according to one of the larger _b-o-o-k_ things _)_ and the rest of the jungle, it having been slowly repaired by her over the years so that it was now relatively safe to use. As she reached the treeline, she grabbed a hanging vine and quickly climbed it to a sturdy looking branch. Looking about her, she saw an easily passable path through the trees that should take her right where she needed to go.

Soon she was practically flying across the jungle, navigating the vines and outlying branches with ease when she could, skidding across the ground with the speed of a wildcat when she couldn't. The whole forest spoke to her -- the call of the birds, the chatter of the monkeys, the trumpeting of--

"<Hey, Tarzan!>"

Tarzan caught herself in a tree, looked down, and saw Robin just below her. The two of them had both grown considerably in every aspect since meeting as younglings. Both of them were nearly twice the size they had been when they met. It was a common joke between them and Jer that Tarzan was part-ape and part-elephant, since her size had her towering over most of the troop and the reddish mane that fell nearly to her waist was closer in color to Robin's skin then any of the apes. 

With barely a seconds hesitation, Tarzan leapt out of the tree and landed on Robin's back, her smooth white skin sliding against his rougher light brown. Once she'd come to a stop behind his ears, he raised his trunk to her and began sniffing. "<Well, someone's in a good mood.>"

Tarzan laughed. "<Yeah, I'm pretty sure you could tell that just by looking at me.>" She batted the trunk away, and Robin began moving. "<You heading to see Jer?>"

"<Naturally. If it weren't for you two, I'd never come this deep into the jungle.>"

"<It's not _that_ deep.>"

"<It's deep enough. All trees everywhere, no visible water...nope, give me the sand and waves anyday.>"

Tarzan sighed and rubbed Robin's head. For a forest-dwelling elephant, Robin definitely had an odd aversion to most things found in the forest. "<How do you even _know_ you'd like that? The forest is _literally_ the only place you've been your whole life.>"

"<Exactly!>" trumpeted Robin. "<And if I'm uncomfortable here, then logically I'd be more comfortable not here. You see?>"

Tarzan just laughed. "<Let's just...find the troop, okay?>"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_So long. It had been so long._

_The once fearsome predator was older now. If any of his birth litter had survived their youth -- survived_ him _\-- they would have been dead for many a year. Had they survived and lived long enough to have cubs of their own,_ those _cubs would either be dead or close to it._

_It didn't matter. Only the hunt and the kill mattered._

_It was harder now. His head still pained him from when that hoomin had wounded him with the loud branch. His many years had made themselves known by forcing him to be less about strength and more about cunning. While he may have lost speed over the years, his mind remained as sharp as ever, if not more so._

_It was this sharpness he was using now, his senses attuned to catch even the slightest shift in wind. If he were unlucky, then his quarry and her friends -- a quarry he had claimed back in the days of his youth -- might catch his scent and scatter, or worse...they might alert the troop and take refuge, thus denying him his prize._

_Luck was with him, though. The wind was steady, blowing his prey's scent back to him and blowing his scent off behind her._

_Slowly, he crept along, sticking to the tall bushes. Soon, he would at last have his meal, and then he could rest._

_Soon…_

  
  
  
  
  
  


With a whistle of thanks for the ride, Tarzan leapt off of Robin and into a nearby tree. She looked about her at the gathered troop. Most of the females were present, grooming the youngest apes. On the far side of the group she saw Kerchak, his shoulders slumped as he contemplated whatever angry apes contemplate when they're alone. Not far from him, Tucker and Beth were fighting over something while their older sister Mercedes tried to get them to either calm down or leave their father alone. All in all, it was a fairly normal day. But where was…?

Tarzan sniffed the air and caught a whiff of her dad not far from her . Climbing through the trees, she found Rendal sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree. He had a small pile of leaves and fruit in front of him and looked completely absorbed in them. Laughing quietly to herself, Tarzan slipped out of the tree she was in. Moving slowly and low, she slid along through the grass with barely a whisper. Soon, she was right behind Rendal. She slowly rose up, inhaled, and--

"<Not while I'm eating.>"

The howl Tarzan had been planning on letting out emerged in a defeated and abrupt exhale. "<Sorry, Dad.>" She swung around the trunk and landed on Rendal's other side, grabbing something from the pile in passing. "<How'd you know it was me?>"

"<I'm your father. I always know where you are.>" He took a bite out of a large fruit and chewed thoughtfully. "<Been at your parents home again, have you?>"

"<I thought you always knew where I was,>" said Tarzan with a laugh. 

"<Well, I'm right, aren't I?>" 

Tarzan smiled and lifted the fruit to her mouth when suddenly something crashed into her from above, driving her to the ground. Before she could strike back, a voice was hooting excitedly. "<I did it! I surprised you! Did you see, Tarzan? You see that, Rendal?>"

Tarzan groaned as she picked herself up, brushing some of the fruit she'd been eating off of her chest. "<Hi, Jer.>"

Jer was still bouncing excitedly. "<Man, I thought I'd never be able to sneak up on you! I mean, you're so much bigger, and stronger probably, and bigger, and faster, and bigger-->"

"<Don't forget bigger,>" rumbled Rendal with a sigh.

"<Right!>" said Jer, missing the way Randal said it. He looked up at his friend, desperate for approval. "<That was good, right?>" 

"<Yeah, it really was, Jer,>" she admitted. "<Only one problem.>"

Jer's face fell. "<Really?>"

Tarzan nodded sadly. "<See, in a real fight, you have to make sure your opponent is…>" She leapt at her friend and the two were soon rolling and laughing along the forest floor and past all the other apes, each of them fighting for position of being on top. They kept rolling until they hit something soft, and Tarzan heard Mercedes yell out, "<Hey, watch it! It takes effort to look this good!>"

"<Sorry, Mercedes!>" they both yelled, and then they were moving again, chasing each other further away from the troop. Tarzan caught sight of Robin working his way through a lunch of leaves up ahead. If she could--

A sudden weight on her legs pulled her to the ground, followed by an even heavier weight on her head holding her down as Jer sat himself atop her. Tarzan's eyes grew wide as she realized what _part_ of Jer was suddenly next to her mouth and with all her might she shoved, getting just enough force to move Jer enough to free her from his rear 

"<Gross, Jer,>" she said to the excited ape. 

"<I still beat you,>" he said proudly.

"<Yeah….good job, buddy.>"

"<She probably just let you win,>" said Robin, munching loudly on his greens.

"< _Whaaat?_ No way. You weren't there for the whole fight, man. I was ducking, and weaving, and wearing her down-->"

"<And then you pressed your butt to her face. I'd quit too.>"

"<Why? What's wrong with my butt?>"

As Robin and Jer argued, something to their left caught Tarzan's attention. Tilting her head, she edged closer to a group of ferns. She couldn't tell what, but something about them had her instincts screaming. She looked around and saw a flat rock near to hand. She grunted at her arguing friends to be quiet and edged closer to the fern. Cautiously, she threw the rock into the plants.

A moment passed.

Another.

Jer slowly came closer. He started to say somethint before Tarzan covered his mouth with her hand. She waited another moment, then relaxed. "<I guess it was-->"

An explosion of sound and color leapt from the bush. Reacting on instinct, Tarzan shoved Jer to the side and rolled in the opposite direction. As Tarzan got her bearings, she recognized the newcomer, and a shiver ran down her back. "<Bobo...>"

The old cat grinned. "<Hello, meat. Did you miss me?>" 

Tarzan glanced at Robin and Jer. "<Get Kerchak!>" she shouted just as another growl warned her of Bobo's next attack. She rolled towards him and stopped just where he'd been as he landed in her former position. A scurry of loud noise told her that Jer and Robin were doing what she had said. She just needed to buy some time….

"<You know,"> Tarzan began, circling carefully and looking for an opening. "<I figured you'd have up and died by now. What's it been? Twenty years? More?>"

"<What, since I had your parents for dinner? Your _hoomin_ parents?>" Bobo chuckled low in his throat. "<Face it, girl...you never belonged here. Dead family, no one like you around….I'd be doing you a favor, really.>"

Tarzan's breath caught in her throat, but she kept on. "<Yeah, well...I made out alright.>"

"<Oh, you _did! >" _ said Bobo. "<Managing to take the place of my pre-meal snack. How _is_ Rendal, by the way? Does he miss his _real_ daughter?>"

Tarzan stopped circling. "<Don't-->"

<\--talk about Rendal? Very well. Maybe I'll visit him, next...or did I already? It's so hard to remember faces….was he black fur, round face, big bite marks everywhere?>"

Tarzan screamed and leapt at him. Bobo copied the attack and Tarzan just has time to get her arms up before the two collided. She screamed as she felt teeth close around her arm and let loose with her other fist, hoping to hit something vital. A bare spot on top of Bobo's head looked inviting, and Tarzan aimed for it with her fist.

As soon as she struck her mark, Bobo howled in pain and released her arm. Blood and some clear liquid began pouring out of Bobo's head as he pawed at the ground. She looked to her left and saw a long stick on the ground, nearly the size of her. She grabbed it just as Bobo looked back at her, the liquids from his injury dripping over his face and giving him an even more hideous look. "<You're dead,>" he said.

Brandishing the stick in front of her, she smiled back at her foe. "<Come on, then.>" 

Bobo ran toward her, and Tarzan turned and climbed up the nearest tree, determined to get as high as she could. A glance behind her confirmed that Bobo was just behind. She reached the lowest level of branches that she could walk on and headed out further, trying not to overload the branch. A growl came from behind her, and she saw that Bobo was just starting to come out onto the branch himself.

The cat grinned. "<Nowhere to run now, meat.>"

"<Who said anything about running?>" asked Tarzan, and she leaped out of the tree and back to the forest floor, stick in hand. Bobo roared his anger and leapt after her, heading straight for her neck.

Tarzan raised the stick.

When Bobo collided with her, Tarzan was sure she was done for and closed her eyes. His weight pressed down on her, and she could feel his hot breath on her face while blood dripped down from where she had struck him. For all his closeness, though, he made no move to attack her. When he continued to not attack her, she opened her eyes.

Bobo's leap had carried him right into the stick Tarzan had grabbed and driven it deep into and through his whole body, entering just between his forelegs and exiting through his back. His jaws hung loosely as he took his final breaths.

"<You…>" he tried to say, and then he was silent.

Slowly, still wary of some trick by him, Tarzan crawled out from underneath the fearsome killer. His body slumped to the ground, supported only by her stick. She bent to pull it out, and when she did, the blood that flowed from the wound was minimal. Bobo truly was dead.

A sound began to rise from the bushes and trees around her. She looked and suddenly became aware that the entire troop had gathered around for the battle between her and Bobo. Even more, the apes were all chanting excitedly, screeching and shouting their approval of her victory. Tarzan took a deep breath and joined them. " _AROOOOOOOOO!!! AR-AR-AR-AROOOOOOOOO!!!"_ The cheers grew louder, and she howled again, reveling in Bobo's long-awaited defeat.

As the noise died down, two apes stepped forward. Kerchak led Rendal to where she stood over Bobo's body. Tarzan knelt to the ground and pushed Bobo towards Kerchak.

The leader of the apes paused, examining the offering. "<What is this?>"

Tarzan refused to be baited. "<It _was_ Bobo. I defeated him.>"

"<Yes, we saw...using some hoomin tricks, no doubt.>"

"<Kerchak….>" Rendal warned, but the great ape merely held up his hand and Rendal was quiet. Kerchak looked at Tarzan, studying her. Finally, he said, "<Why?>"

"<He killed...Rendal's baby. He killed my…>" The word _parents_ stuck in her throat, so she moved past it. "<He was a threat to all of us.>"

"<So you end threats, then?>" he challenged.

"<I do what I have to to keep the troop safe.>"

Kerchak narrowed his eyes at her. For a moment, Tarzan thought there'd be a further challenge, but instead Kerchak nodded and turned, heading back to the edge of the jungle. She glanced over at Rendal, and although he too was silent, the look in his eyes conveyed all the worry and pride she would expect from him. Wordlessly, she went over to him and--

A loud sound rang out through the jungle, like two trees falling on top of each other, or maybe a single clap that was many times larger than normal. The entire troop stood still, uncertain what this new sound meant. Rendal looked away from her and towards Kerchak, who was glaring with suspicion and anger at her for some reason.

Whatever Kerchak was thinking about her, he seemed to let it go. "<Let's get moving,>" he ordered, leading the troop deeper into the jungle and away from the sound. As the rest of the troop moved off, some of them mumbling congratulations to Tarzan as they passed her, Tarzan paused. She looked back to where the loud clap had come from. Over the years, Rendal had told her some more details about what little of her beginnings he could. He had mentioned once hearing a giant clap and seeing a flash of light that seemed to come from the water and not above, like when it rained. The sound they had heard wasn't _quite_ that loud, she supposed, but…

She looked ahead, and saw the backs of Jer and Rendal and Kerchak and everyone else. If she hung back just a bit, then used the vines, she could catch up to them easily. And if, while she was catching up, she happened to see anything…

Curiosity made the decision for her. She turned and headed along the ground, making as little noise as possible. The leaves on the plants were thick here, and should help to keep her hidden, if necessary. Light shown past some trees, and there was movement, ahead of her, along with a mixture of new scents. One scent smelled like mud that had been dried and then covered with some animal droppings. One smelled like a storm, like a mixture of rain and the flames that sometimes appeared after the sky struck the ground. And the last one…

Tarzan couldn't help but smile at the last scent. It was both of the jungle and out of it. It smelled like all of the fruits she had ever eaten mixed up into one glorious meal. Her mouth watered with desire as she leaned forward to try and get a glimpse of what was making that scent…

The bushes just to her right suddenly blew apart as the sound from earlier repeated, and she froze, scarcely daring to blink. Three beings came forward from the other side of the small clearing she was on the edge of, the smallest (and, Tarzan realized, the source of the fruit scent) yelling at the lone male. They walked on their rear legs, they had coverings that were not their skin or fur across their bodies, and when their mouths moved, the sounds were both familiar and not, and Tarzan felt a rush of shock as she realized what they were.

_Hoomins._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The clear fluid Tarzan sees leaking out of Bobo's head wound (which is meant to take the place of Bobo's mohawk, btw) is cerebrospinal fluid. It's basically meant to cushion the brain inside the skull. 
> 
> The average age of a leopard varies between twelve and seventeen years in the wild, with captive leopards reaching up to twenty-four years. They reach sexual maturity at about three years old and have litters of about two to four cubs with a mortality rate of between 35 and 90 percent. Put another way, Bobo killing his siblings isn't just indicative of the character of Bobo -- it's actually pretty standard of leopards in general.
> 
> In more pleasant areas of research, African forest elephants generally reach heights of between eight and ten feet, while gorillas are between four and six feet. The standard height for a Kat Barrell (and, subsequently, a Nicole Haught) is, of course, five-foot-nine.
> 
> Finally, an explanation for Tarzan's hoomin term usage. In the original novels, _that_ Tarzan found his parents' jungle home at a pretty young age and taught himself to recognize the words, but, having never heard the English language, he had no clue how they sounded. I tried to recreate that as best I could here, and hopefully I succeeded in a way that doesn't come across as offensive.


	11. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Earps and their client reach their destination

_May 1912_

_MV Peacemaker_

_En route to Africa_

"Okay, kiddies, I hope you're hungry," said Rosita, more than a little pride in her voice as she served the main crew in the galley of the _Peacemaker_. "This dish is something I've been thinking about since getting a peek at your stores here."

The barmaid-turned-ship's cook grinned expectantly at the faces around her. On each of their plates was a pile of cooked potato slices with cheese melted on top of them. On top of that, Rosita had diced up vegetables and sprinkled them liberally, creating something that looked like a combination snack and salad.

As Wynonna and the others watched, Rosita finished the food prep by adding a few dashes of salt to the top of each dish. She smiled excitedly. "Well? Dig in!"

All of them looked at what they had been given for this, their last supper before reaching Africa. Wynonna had a look of cautious curiosity on her face. Henry seemed torn between resignation and amusement, as though he'd been subjected to these experimental combinations in the past. Waverly wasn't outright opposed to the dish, but she was curious about how stable it actually was. Least encouraging was Hardy, who looked at his plate as though an animal had died on it. "I'm not that hungry, actually."

"Don't be rude, Champ," said Waverly. "I'm sure Rosita worked really hard on this….this...what did you call it?"

"I call them nachos."

"Nachos?" Wynonna picked up one of the custom-made chips that was dripping with cheese and...other stuff. "What does that mean?"

"Combination sodium chloride -- that's salt to the common folk or NaCl to scientists -- cheese, and sliced baked potatoes."

Henry examined his own dish. "And how do you get naclos from that?"

" _Nachos_ ," Rosita corrected sternly. "Sodium's represented by Na on the periodic table." She held up two fingers. "Then the c-h in cheese…" Two more fingers came up. "And finally, one o from potato." She held up all five fingers. "Nacho."

The five of them looked at each other uncertainly, then Wynonna shrugged. "Well, when near Rome…" She placed the chip in her mouth and chewed, then her eyes grew wide. Within seconds half of what was on Wynonna's plate had vanished. "Okay, Rosie?" Wynonna said through a mouthful of nachos. "I don't know where you came from, but this is the best thing I've ever eaten and I kinda wanna marry you right now."

Hardy shook his head. "Okay, now I've definitely lost my appetite." He stood up from the table in a huff. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my cabin."

The rest of the group watched him go in silence. After a moment, Waverly asked, "Should someone go talk to him?"

"With a blunt object, maybe," grumbled Wynonna.

"He's been like that ever since he walked into our bar two months ago," explained Rosita. "Knows what he wants and doesn't hear a single thing telling him otherwise."

Henry nodded. "My understanding is that the lad came from both money and military as a legacy. Attempted to sign up for service, and even got through basic training competently enough."

"So how come the idiot's hiring us for a trip down south instead of getting shot at in some other idiot's war?" asked Wynonna, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Well...this is all mere guesswork. You understand that, don't you, Miss and Miss Earp?" The two sister's nodded as Rosita cleared Wynonna's plate and slid Champ's untouched meal over to her. "Good. My feeling on the matter is that he got deployed on a small do-nothing mission -- guarding some overpass, protecting an important convoy, something like that -- and either he went against his orders in such a manner that they violated the military very strict code, or he refused to follow orders and got a whole lot of folk killed because of it."

"Whoa…." said Wynonna.

Waverly rolled her eyes. "He said it's a _theory_ , Wynonna."

"Either way, it fits. So what you're saying is your buddy out there is a loose cannon, and you're….what, here to minimize the damage?"

Henry laughed and favored them with a big smile. "Well, _friend_ might be pushing it. I was kind enough to offer him a room when he arrived in London -- a room he was less than polite to, was he not, Rosi?"

"Pretty sure a rabid dog would've treated it better," Rosita quipped.

Henry nodded. "In any event, my purpose here is threefold -- to ensure my _acquaintance_ does not get himself or anyone else hurt, and to enjoy some time away from the hustle of everyday life."

Wynonna nodded. "Sounds good. That's pretty much why we're here, right, Waves?"

Waverly was studying Henry. "What's the third?"

The old man looked at her carefully. "Third what, ma'am?"

"You said you came for three reasons. 'My purpose here is threefold' were your exact words. Vacation and protecting your…" Waverly looked at Wynonna for the right word. "Partner?"

Behind them, Rosita spoke up. "His wallet, more like."

"Right -- thanks, Rosi. Protecting your... _investment_. What's the third reason?"

Henry was silent for a moment, his eyes covering the room, but there was nothing there but Rosi, who had stopped cleaning and was watching them…. _cautiously? Why would Rosi be nervous about why they're here?_ Before she could ask about the mood change, Rosita walked over and sat on Henry's lap. "Well, I've been owed a honeymoon for a while, so this is as good an opportunity as any, right?" She giggled and kissed Henry square on the mouth. 

Wynonna, meanwhile, was choking on her stored bottle of liquor. "Sorry...you guys are married?"

Henry shrugged. "Officially, yes. It was done to help secure this desert rose some citizenship and grew from there...much like a desert rose." 

"You're so corny, Henry," said Rosita, snuggling closer to him. 

"Okay, major barf alert," said Wynonna. "I gotta get out of here before those beautiful nachos leave their new home." 

"Sleep well, sis!" called Waverly after her. "Remember, we head ashore at noon." Wynonna waved a hand to indicate she had heard and understood, and Waverly turned back to regard the apparent couple. "So….married, huh?"

"Yes, ma'am," answered Henry.

"When?"

"Last April," said Rosita, sliding off of Henry.

"Okay, cool cool cool." Waverly frowned, her mind whirling. "So when did you apply for citizenship?"

"Oh, it was…" Rosita glanced at Henry, who took off his hat and faced her. "Miss Earp…" he said gently. "May I ask what has prompted this line of questioning?"

"Well, it's just...to be a citizen by marriage, you have to be married to a citizen of the country, and….you're American, yes?"

"By birth, yes."

Waverly nodded. "Where from?"

"Georgia, ma'am."

"Never been. Anyway, you'd have to have been living in England for three years before _you_ could apply for citizenship, assuming you were here legally and above board."

Henry's mustache twitched. "Miss Earp….I am respecting you as our host and guide, but you are veering close to disrespect of me and mine." He leaned forward. "What's more, if your name is a sign of your legacy, I would think Wyatt would be disappointed in his progeny acting in such a way."

Waverly shrugged. "Good news there, then -- I'm only an Earp through circumstantial adoption rather than blood." Waverly rose and headed for the exit, then paused and looked back at Henry. "Georgia, huh?" She smiled briefly at the two and headed for her own cabin. Like she'd said to Wynonna, they would be reaching their destination tomorrow, and once they arrived, they would need to be fully rested and ready for anything.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The morning sun had dawned bright and clear, and Wynonna growled at it from her place on the African shore. The night crew had rounded the outer tip of Africa in the night and a good wind had carried _Peacemaker_ to their destination, helping them to arrive to Hardy's chosen location not long after sunrise. 

Wynonna sighed and checked the time. They had been ferrying goods off the ship for the past hour, and it was nearly ten o'clock now. Whatever Hardy's plan was, it certainly didn't seem to involve moving quickly or to any set schedule. Not that there was a schedule, exactly, but the man had been extremely vague about his goals beyond commissioning them for their time out here. In Wynonna's experience, vagueness and goods of an undisclosed nature rarely led to anything good. 

A shout from the outrigger drew Wynonna's attention, and Wynonna saw Waverly and Henry making land, along with the last of whatever Hardy had brought over. Henry was still dressed in his American west outfit from last night,, and Wynonna had to admit it suited him. Waverly, meanwhile, had scrounged up a passable safari outfit, complete with dungarees, a dark denim shirt, and a pith helmet. As for Hardy, he was already making sure the last of his packages were unloaded quickly and was talking animatedly with Henry. The older man was attempting to calm the younger, but apparently was having zero luck.

Wynonna went over and clapped her hands for attention. "There a problem, ladies?"

"Ah, Hank's just being overly cautious about my toys," explained Champ annoyingly. "Don't worry your pretty hair about it."

The eyebrows on "Hank's" face rose at this, and he cleared his throat. "Now, James, I merely thought that we should ask our hosts' permission before using these items. In an environment like this--"

"What items?" asked Waverly. "Privacy for personal belongings aside, if you brought something illegal with you--"

  
  


"I didn't bring anything 'illegal' with me, gorgeous," said Hardy, a condescending smile on his face. "Everything in here is my personal property."

"That doesn't mean it's legal to carry from country to country without proper clearances, Champ," explained Waverly. "There's a world of difference between bringing the collected works of Shakespeare and a shotgun."

Hardy looked up at that. "Shake-who?" He laughed. "Anyway, there's no shotguns in here."

"Thank Christ," said Wynonna under her breath. 

"No," said Hardy. "This is my pride and joy." With that, he popped open the lid on the box nearest him and took out the biggest hunting rifle Wynonna had ever seen. It was as black as her jacket and almost as long as Waverly was tall. The barrel shone brightly in the late morning sun, and Wynonna was torn between awe and rage at the sight of it.

Waverly, however, had no such qualms. "Is that a _gun?_ " she nearly shouted. "You brought a damn _rifle_ on our boat and didn't _tell us?!_ "

"Pretty ballsy, Champ," said Wynonna as Waverly stuttered. "Also, illegal. Also, a violation of our contract."

"How do you figure?" asked Champ, an innocent smile on his face.

"It's illegal," said Waverly, working to contain her rage, "because all goods and intentions need to be declared--"

"--prior to accepting payment, which you took as soon as I showed it. Now if you ladies don't mind, I have a legend to find."

"Legend?!" Waverly shouted, but her voice was ignored as Champ charged ahead. Waverly ran after him, determined to catch up to and possibly murder their client. Not wanting to have her sister become a murderer, Wynonna ran to catch up.

It didn't take long for her to find the pair. Already she could hear Waverly saying, "Regardless of when the money was taken, Mr. Hardy--"

"Aw, what happened to Champ?" Hardy asked, ignoring Waverly's concerns.

"--the simple fact is that transporting firearms is dicey under the best conditions. If anything were to happen to you or anyone else, _we_ would be responsible."

"Darling, I promise, nothing will happen. This thing isn't even loaded right now." Hardy sighted at a nearby tree and pulled the trigger.

The sound of the gunshot was so loud that all sound around them ceased. Both sisters stared at Hardy in shock, and the young man at least looked as surprised as them. He stared down at the rifle, then at the remains of the tree, which had lost a good chunk of itself as a result of the blast. "Whoa…" He knelt down to examine the impact. He looked back at them, and his expression was one of eager anticipation. "Imagine that but a gorilla."

"A _gorilla?_ " exclaimed Waverly, and Wynonna swore she saw her little sister actually turn red. "No, Champ, that's enough. We are going back to the boat and returning to England. You can have all your money back, but this trip is cancelled, I'm afraid."

Waverly turned to leave and a second gunshot sounded. She whirled about and saw Champ standing there with his rifle pointed into the bushes. Waverly's mouth curled in anger as she stomped over to Champ. " _What_ did I just say?"

"Thought I saw something in there," said Hardy, as if she hadn't spoken. He leaned to look closer at the bush, and…. _something_ ….moved, leaping from the ground and heading up a nearby tree. The canopy was too thick and dark to get a good look at whatever it had been, but it was definitely at least as big as a full-grown man. 

"Gorilla?" asked Wynonna.

Waverly opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a loud rumbling. It sounded as though the entire forest had come alive and was moving towards them. Wynonna glanced behind her, and….

Elephants. A lot of elephants. Coming towards them.

" _Shit!_ Move it, baby girl!" Wynonna ran to the side, trying to keep the elephants on her left as she moved. She vaulted a fallen log, slipped on some mud, and then a buffet of sound slammed into her as the herd moved past, just missing where she'd been standing mere moments before. Wynonna pressed herself against a tree and waited for the herd to pass, and within a minute, they were gone.

Disconnecting herself from the tree, Wynonna picked her way back through the jungle. "Waverly!" she called. "Where you at, baby girl?" She reached the stampede trail and not far from her, she saw Hardy staring after the herd with something like desire.

"Goddamn," the man said, and Wynonna wondered how he could be so stupid as to _not_ realize he had almost died. "Did you see that? God, if I could bag one of those…."

"Yeah, I'm not sure we have room for it between my dick and your ego," said Wynonna. She looked around, but it was just them. "Where's Waverly?"

Something in her tone broke through Champ's lust. He looked at her curiously. "I thought she was with you."

A switch flipped in Wynonna's brain and she was instantly looking back and forth over the field. There was the trail, and the idiot client, and her, and…

_Wait._

Wynonna ran forward, hoping that she had just spotted a weirdly-shaped pineapple. As she slowed, she recognized it -- the even curvature; the just-this-side-of-natural coloring.

It was Waverly's pith helmet. _Just_ Waverly's pith helmet. 

Of its owner, however, there was no sign. 

Waverly was gone 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The MV in _Peacemaker_ 's name stands for Merchant Vessel, according to the national ship prefix guide (or at least the one I found)
> 
> The estimated travel time for a ship to Africa varies depending on weather and currents and the type of ship used, but generally two to three weeks is a good estimation.
> 
> The exact process one would need to take to become a citizen of England is tricky, but the straightest answer is pretty much what Waverly said....which matters not a lick, given Doc's -- excuse me, _Henry's_ \-- less-than-legal status.
> 
> Nachos were definitely invented by a supersmart barmaid named Rosita in the early twentieth century and not in 1940 by a Mexican man named Ignacio "El Nacho" Anaya, and anyone who says otherwise is wrong
> 
> (But seriously, thank LoneWolfWriter for telling me that)
> 
> One more chapter until they officially meet!


	12. Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of chaos, a meeting occurs

Tarzan watched the hoomins from the tree she had climbed into after the bad-smelling hoomin, the one the others had addressed as Champ, had shot at her. The small one that smelled nice -- Darling -- had wandered off, the anger somehow making her smell even nicer. Tarzan crept along slowly, watching her from above. Once she was away from the male, Darling seemed to calm down, and Tarzan dropped to the ground, a little unsure what exactly she was doing. 

  
  


When Tarzan landed, Darling looked up at the sound. "Hello?" she called out. "It's alright. I won't hurt you."

Tarzan swallowed and for some reason was suddenly sweating. Before she could do anything, a loud pounding started. It was getting closer, and both Tarzan and Darling looked up at it from where they were. 

_ <Elephants! _> Before she could think twice, Tarzan burst out of the bush and was picking Darling up. She glanced behind her, and with a speed she didn't know she posessed she had picked up Darling and was scrambling to put as much distance between them and the oncoming herd as she could.

The elephants burst through the clearing one breath later.

  
  
  
  
  
  


To say Waverly was a little put out by events would be putting it _extremely_ mildly.

For starters, their client had snuck aboard who knew how many guns -- guns which, were they to be discovered, would land them in all sorts of trouble. More to the point, said client was apparently more interested in using this vacation for poaching than studying the varied African wildlife.

As if that weren't enough, something was extremely off with Henry and Rosita's story. Sure, they _acted_ the part of circumstantial husband and wife, but something about Henry just had all of Waverly's warning bells going off, and she was definitely going to figure out what and why before they were through. 

All of that was to say that distracted as she was, _maybe_ storming away from Champ (who made no secret of his intentions towards her, and okay, maybe she _had_ led him on a little bit; she could admit that) and Wynonna was not the brightest decision she had ever made. Not when there were animals twice her size that could dispose of her in a heartbeat. Animals like, for instance, an elephant...or more specifically, a whole herd of them.

Every instinct in Waverly's body was telling her to run, move, scream, do _something!_ Unfortunately, she was suddenly aware of how mice feel when an owl screeches in the forest -- utterly paralyzed with inescapable dread. She watched as the herd moved closer, screaming at her body to move. The herd was closing fast, but a quick dart into the brush on either side would take her to safety, and then--

Something slammed into Waverly from the side, and she felt herself being carried by something that was running all out to keep ahead of the herd. Long unruly dark hair got caught in her face, and she spat it out. "Wynonna? What--"

Words stopped working as her brain struggled to catch up to what her eyes were seeing. The dark hair flying behind her rescuer did _not_ belong to her sister. Instead, she found herself being carried by an extremely tanned and extremely dirty woman. Before she could ask what was happening, the woman shifted Waverly to an over-the-shoulder position giving Waverly an ample view of both the elephants that were less than twenty yards behind them and closing _and_ her rescuer's extremely visible buttocks.

"Okay, naked lady saving me from a stampede in the jungle. Awesome." Waverly's brain screamed in protest at this calm assessment, and so Waverly ignored it. "Hey, naked hot lady! Those elephants are getting kinda close!"

  
  
  
  
  


Tarzan heard Darling saying something but couldn't tell what with the elephants screaming at her. < _Oh, why not?_ >, she thought, and turned around and ran _towards_ the stampede. "<Hold on!>", she said to Darling, who gripped her tighter and began screaming at what Tarzan could only assume was how dumb Tarzan was being. Just before they would have been run over, Tarzan leaped to her left, grabbed hold of the tusk of the nearest elephant, and climbed up on top of….

Robin's mother.

"<What the _hell_ are you doing, you dumb ape?!>" screamed her friend's parent. "<You nearly pulled my tusk out!>"

"<Sorry!>" Tarzan called back from atop her back. "<You were about to run us over! There wasn't time to ask permission!>"

"< _Permission?!_ >" trumpeted the elder elephant angrily. The stampede slammed to a halt and Tarzan reached out to grab something to hold on to. Another scream sounded and Tarzan realized she had grabbed onto Robin's mother's ear. "<Will you get out of here, you menace?!>"

Tarzan didnt need to be asked twice. Still holding Darling, she picked a direction and ran off into the jungle.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_Okay, this is getting ridiculous_ . Waverly looked about her at the bushes flying past her face as her…. _rescuer_ ...ran through the jungle. _We need to stop._ "Um, hey lady? Can you maybe slow down please?"

Either the woman didn't hear her or chose to ignore her. Frowning, Waverly began beating her fists against her companion's back. The woman immediately stopped and whirled around in a defensive stance, but of course she saw nothing. Waverly cleared her throat and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, could you maybe let me down please?" The tap got her attention, and Waverly lightly waved at her rescuer. The woman mirrored the gesture, and gently set Waverly down on the ground, making sure she was able to stand. 

Now that they had stopped moving, Waverly was able to get a proper look at her rescuer. She was tall, taller than Waverly. Although her posture was slightly stooped, Waverly estimated her to be just a couple inches shy of six feet. The dark hair that Waverly had at first mistaken for Wynonna's brown locks was actually a dirt-covered red and stretched nearly to her waist. Her entire body seemed to be made of nothing but muscles and more muscles. Her brown eyes gazed curiously at Waverly, and when Waverly made eye contact with her the woman smiled and came closer.

And, of course, she was still naked. The woman, who was now sniffing every part of Waverly as though she was some addictive substance, rubbed up against Waverly in what Waverly only partially hoped was an _extremely_ close hug. "Whoa, slow down, ma'am," she said. With difficulty, she pushed the very muscular woman away. The woman grinned at her and immediately stepped forward again. " _No_ ," said Waverly forcefully, stepping back. The woman's expression grew hurt, and Waverly calmed herself. "Sorry, it's just...you do realize you're naked, don't you? And there is a _lot_ of you on display right now...that is, I'm seeing a lot of you...or more of you than I should...that is…" 

The woman continued to stare at Waverly, looking as confused as Waverly felt. "Alright, let's try this for starters." Waverly unbuttoned her shirt and slipped it off, then held it out towards the woman. "Here, see if this fits."

The woman approached the shirt and sniffed it, then stared at Waverly, who suddenly felt rather stupid standing there in a camisole and holding her shirt out to a jungle woman she'd known for less than an hour. _She's probably been alone for years. She might not even know how to…_ Waverly knelt next to her and pulled her face so they were looking right at each other. "Do you understand me?"

The woman cocked her head to the side, but otherwise made no response. "Okay, uhhh….Est-ce que tu parles français?"

Still nothing. Waverly tried again in Spanish and German, but was met with the same result. "Okay, just...stick your arms out behind you, okay? Like this." Waverly demonstrated, and the woman smiled. _Okay….at least she thinks I'm funny._ "Come on, just do what I do okay?" She spoke directly to the woman, and this time pulled her into a standing position. "Right, now just hang on…" Waverly gently pulled the woman's arms behind her and tried to fit her shirt on over them, but her arms were just too big to fit through without tearing something. "Right...that's okay. I can fix this." Changing tactics, Waverly looped the shirt around the front of the woman so that the main body of it was hanging down across the woman's chest. She pulled the sleeves around under her armpits, knotted them against each other as tight as she dared, and then buttoned each cuff to its opposite to hold it.

Stepping back, Waverly examined her work. "Well, you won't win any fashion shows, but that should hold." She nodded to herself and took the woman's hand in what she hoped was a friendly gesture. "Mind you, if we weren't stuck out here, I could really make you look decent, but…"

"You...decent."

Waverly's breath caught in her throat. "Did you just…" She darted forward and looked the woman. "You _can_ speak! God, and I was worried we wouldn't be able to communicate at all. That's a relief, actually, because--"

A finger fell across Waverly's lips, shushing her. Waverly stopped her rant and went back to studying the woman and her brown eyes that seemed to hold such strength and wisdom. "Who _are_ you?"

The woman frowned, and looked as though she was trying to remember something from long ago. She pointed at a nearby tree and made a soft hooting sound like a monkey, then said, "Tree."

Now Waverly was confused, but nodded. "Yes, that's a tree, but--"

The woman smiled excitedly and clapped, looking around the clearing, then looking up. She pointed up and hooted again, then looked at Waverly. "Sky?" asked Waverly. "Are you…" Waverly gasped. "You're translating...how are…"

The woman shut Waverly's mouth again, and Waverly couldn't help but laugh at how she was acting. The woman smiled and sat down in front of her. She put a hand on her chest, let out two small hoots and said simply, "Tarzan."

"Tarzan…" repeated Waverly. The woman -- Tarzan -- grinned excitedly and began running around the area before seeming to remember she wasn't alone. She returned to Waverly and placed a hand on Waverly's shoulder. "Darling."

"What? Excuse you, but--"

"Darling!" Tarzan said again, that persistent smile making it almost impossible to be mad at what she was saying. She touched each of their chests in turn. "Tarzan….Darling. Tarzan….Dar--"

"Okay, where would you have even heard that word? Because--"

"Champ."

Waverly almost cringed at the answer, suddenly remembering what Champ had called her just before the stampede tore through and separated her from her sister and their client. Waverly sighed, shook her head, and placed Tarzan's hand on her chest. "Waverly," she said firmly.

She could see the connections slowly being made in Tarzan's mind. "Waverly?" 

Waverly nodded and smiled. "Yes. Waverly." She leaned forward and put her own hand on Tarzan's shoulder. "Hello, Tarzan. It's nice to meet you."

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the research I turned up, tusks are essentially giant teeth used for digging and scraping bark off trees. Essentially, they're greatly elongated incisors 
> 
> A camisole is one of several types of undergarments used by women before the advent of bras, the first of which (at least, as we know them today) would only be coming out just as our story is happening. There were a few options for what I could have Waverly wear, but given that they're in the jungle, I figured simplicity was best.
> 
> Kat is about seven inches taller than Dom, so personally I find the likelihood of one of Dom's shirts fitting easily on Kat very low, especially given Nicole's increased muscle mass in the story.


	13. Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many groups descend upon the human base camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long to get up! My work schedule got changed around so my days off are now Saturday and Sunday, which means less time for midweek writing still, I'll do what I can, even if it does mean I have to change the update day. 
> 
> Fingers crossed for the show! #FightForWynonna #FiveForWynonna

Wynonna looked on impatiently as Griffin studied the trail. "Well?"

The old bartender -- or bar-owner, at least -- glanced up at her, then back to the ground. "Well, what?"

Wynonna rolled her eyes. "Back on the ship you made out like you were some great tracker or hunter or something. Could find anything given the smallest sign, you said. So where the hell is my sister?"

Griffin stood and sighed. "You are a rather ornery woman. Have you ever been told that?"

"Yeah, it usually gets followed by me punching out the person who said it. Talk."

Griffin pointed back up the trail. "Miss Waverly stayed in a pretty straight line from where she walked away from you and Champ." He bent and pointed at something in the dirt. It might have been a shoeprint….or it might have been a random pile of monkeyshit. "She kept on this way…" He walked the trail a little further. "Paused here, where you found her helmet, and…" He trailed off and bent closer to the ground, examining it closely on all fours. 

Wynonna scowled. "What? She get kidnapped by a giant monkey? Maybe a supersmart giraffe?"

Griffin said nothing, instead going back over the same patch of grass. He bent over to look at something, and then began walking backwards towards the treeline, keeping his eyes on the ground. His focus was so intense he backed into a tree without even flinching, just bent over and examined the ground at the tree's base. "Well, _that's_ curious."

Wynonna sighed. " _What's_ curious, Hank?"

"It looks as though someone else was here." He beckoned her over and pointed at what looked like two footprints in the mud. "That someone was standing at the tree here, ran towards Miss Waverly out there…." Griffin followed the footprints back out to the trail. "They picked her up, and then…" He stood and frowned. "Huh."

"What?"

Griffin stretched and stroked his chin. "Well, either they grew wings and flew away, or…." He shrugged.

Wynonna stared incredulously at him. "What, what does--" She mimicked his shrug. "--mean?"

"Clear sign of stampede, evidence of passage, no sign of--"

"Don't say it." Wynonna nearly growled.

Griffin arched his eyebrows in surprise, but nodded. "No presence of anyone in the area," he amended. "For all intents and purposes, ma'am, she has gone."

Wynonna laughed, but it was a desperate sound. "Oh, well that's fucking great. Thanks. That's really…what the hell am I supposed to do now? I'm her big sister. I'm supposed to take care of her. Do you understand that? Does the idea of taking care of people have a place in that mustached head of yours?"

"Do _not_ lecture me on personal responsibility, Wynonna Earp." Griffin's voice grew low and dangerous, and Wynonna was suddenly keenly aware how far from civilization they were. "I have learned the lessons of that long ago and have done my best to atone for the mistakes hasty promises and secret cures led me to make."

Wynonna could only nod and quietly say, "Yeah. Got it."

Griffin nodded and began hiking back towards where they had left Hardy. As they walked, he turned to her. "Miss Earp, I am sorry for that. When a life has been lived as mine has, it comes with a great many regrets over how a person could have done better….could have been a more honorable friend to those who called him as much."

"Uh-huh…" said Wynonna slowly.

"Suffice it to say, a woman promised me something in exchange for information on where a dear friend of mine would be, and in desperation, I delivered. He survived the trap, but what we had…." He sighed and shook his head. "Regret."

Not sure what to say, Wynonna instead changed the subject. "So how do we find Waverly?" 

"From what I've seen, she's cleverer than a fox and at least as tough. We get a good fire going back at camp, there's a pretty decent chance she'll see it and come running."

"And if she doesn't?"

Griffin was silent as they neared the spot where they'd left Hardy, who had fallen asleep. He shook the younger man. "James."

The man grunted, but gave no sign of waking. Sighing, Wynonna bent over and reached inside his jacket. There she found a long-barreled revolver. She pulled it from its holster, aimed upward, and fired.

Hardy woke with a start. "I'm awake, I was just….what's happening?"

Wynonna rolled her eyes. "Come on, 'Champ'," she said, shoving the gun through her belt. "We're heading back."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Waverly had lost track of time in the course of her examination of this strange jungle person. By all expectations, the woman should have been extremely malnourished and covered in all sorts of half-healed injuries. If Waverly had been the one stuck out here, it was doubtful she would have made it to ten, much less….however old Tarzan was.

"You know, we're really gonna have to teach you some more words so you can actually communicate with me," said Waverly as she carefully examined Tarzan's long legs and soft hair and extremely well placed muscles that she definitely had only a vague scientific interest in. "Don't get me wrong -- it's nice to carry on a conversation with someone that won't take it into absurdity. I just wouldn't mind if you could talk back a little, you know?"

Tarzan nodded, though Waverly had the feeling it was more due to her tone then actually understanding what was being said. "Pretty," she said.

Despite herself, Waverly blushed and ducked her head to hide her smile. "Well, I don't know where you learned _that_ word, but hopefully one day you can tell me. Here." Waverly stepped back and pulled out a mirror. "What do you think?"

She held the mirror in front of Tarzan, who started at what she saw. The woman backed away and looked around, but saw no one. Waverly approached her slowly. "It's okay...it's just a mirror. Like a...a portable piece of hard water. You can see yourself in it." She patted the ground next to her and looked at Tarzan, who came slowly, approaching on all fours like a dog...or a monkey. Waverly held out her hand and Tarzan approached cautiously, crouching next to Waverly. Waverly slid over next to her and held the mirror up so they were both visible in it. "See? It's just an image. That's you."

Tarzan leaned forward and studied the reflection, and Waverly was again struck by how strong she was….not just physically, but spiritually. To survive alone for years if not decades in the middle of a jungle, far from civilization and any other humans...

A gunshot rang out from somewhere, and both Waverly and Tarzan looked up. Tarzan grunted something and looked towards the east, back in the direction they had come from. A gunshot could only mean…. "Wynonna...Champ…"

At the sound of her voice, Tarzan turned and came back to her, a small wrinkle appearing on her forehead. "That's Wynonna...she must be looking for me. She's my sister, and…" Waverly stopped, unsure how exactly to explain genetics and reproduction to someone that could only speak a few words of English. Waverly looked up to the sun. It was almost directly overhead now, and they had been walking more or less towards it earlier. Waverly turned to Tarzan. "Can you take me to the beach?"

Tarzan frowned. "Beach?"

"Yes! Where the land meets the water. It's where my other friends are. Wynonna will be looking for me, and hopefully we can meet her there."

"Beach," Tarzan repeated with a nod. She looked into the trees for something and smiled. Before Waverly could ask what she was grinning at, Tarzan had an arm around her and was carrying her up into a nearby tree. They stopped about halfway up and Tarzan unwound a vine from a branch next to them. She turned back to Waverly and held out a hand. "Okay?"

Despite the risk and insanity of what she knew Tarzan was asking, Waverly didn't hesitate. She stepped forward, put her hand in Tarzan's, and got close to her new….friend. "Okay."

Tarzan gave the vine a quick tug, pulled Waverly close, and leapt off the branch, riding the vine through the jungle as Waverly's delighted screams accompanied them.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Rosita looked up at the sound of the gunshot...a pistol of some sort, if she wasn't mistaken. Not long after, there was a cry that might have been a bird….or might have been someone screaming.

She sighed and looked around. The main camp was, except for a few odds and ends, pretty set. They were close enough to the water that getting back and forth from the ship wouldn't be a problem, but far enough inland that there wouldn't be any accidental drownings of anything by sudden tidal changes. The crew had split themselves into two groups, with one staying on the ship to look after it and the other looking after the camp. 

A shout from the beach drew her attention, and with a sigh she got up to see what was going on. "Hey, _idiotas_. Come on. Your pals are upset about something." The group went back to the beach just in time to see the men bringing over one final large package. "What the hell is this?" asked Rosita

"Last delivery," said one of the sailors. 

"No shit, moron. But what's in it?"

"Don't know, don't care. It's Hardy's, though, and it was taking up space in the hold. It's your problem now, lady."

"Hey, moron! I work for D--Henry, not you!" The man shrugged and got back in the small motorboat they had been using to transport goods back and forth, and him and his friends sped back to the ship.

Rosita stared after them with a look of disgust on her face. "Assholes," she muttered. She looked around. "Anybody got a hammer?"

One man with curling hair stepped forward. "Here you go, Rosi."

"Thanks, Stevie. Let's see what else Champ brought…."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"<This is so stupid,>" said Tucker.

"< _You're_ stupid,>" declared Mercedes. "<Besides, she's still a part of the troop, like it or not.>"

"<I don't. Father doesn't either.>"

"<Well, Father isn't here, and I'm older than you, so what I say goes, and I say shut up.>" She threw some dirt at her brother and turned to Jer. "<You okay?>"

Jer nodded. "<Yeah, I'm just really worried about Tarzan. You think she's okay?>"

"<Please. She's probably just daydreaming about knocking Kerchak out somewhere. It's not like they get along.>"

Jer cocked his head, surprised at the response. "<Isn't he your father?>"

Mercedes looked at him with an amused expression. "<Is that supposed to mean something?>"

Before Jer could respond to that, a loud stomping sounded from up ahead. Mercedes held up a hand and the troop paused its hunt as Robin came running up. He stopped in front of them, gasping. <There's….up ahead...I found…>"

  
  


Mercedes just looked at him. "<You lose your words there, big boy?>"

"<Just….come…>" 

Mercedes frowned and took off after the elephant, who was stopped at some clearing just up ahead. From the smell and sound of things, they were fairly close to the big water. Maybe Tarzan had gone in and drowned and washed up. Unlikely, granted, but she couldn't think of anything else that would have Robin so excited.

Mercedes pushed through the last branches and saw…..she wasn't sure what they were. It looked as if someone had propped up massive leaves throughout the clearing, and then used some strange tiny trees to hold them up. She approached one and hit it gently, and instead of a thick tree like sound, it was higher and deeper, like a cave. "<Weird,>" she declared.

"<What is it, sister?>" asked Beth, shoving through. The younger gorilla stared with disgust at it. "<Eeuch….really, what is it? It's hideous.>"

"<Uh, guys?>" called Jer. "<We should get out of here.>"

"<Why?>" said Mercedes. "<Did you find something?>"

Jer nodded timidly and held up something. It was a thin white leaf, but on it was…

Beth screeched. "<Hoomins! It's a hoomin nest! Gross!>"

Mercedes rolled her eyes and punched her sister. "<Calm down! They're obviously not here! We just need to warn Father and the rest and everything will be fine.>"

A crash came from the edge of the clearing and all turned to see Tucker dismantling one of the hoomin structures. "<What the hell are you doing, you little freak?>" 

"<What Father would want,>" he said calmly.

Mercedes pounced over to land in front of Tucker. "< _Father_ is not here. I'm oldest, so I'm in charge of you freaks-->"

"<Hey!>" cried Jer, before getting muffled by Robin's trunk with a whispered "<Not now!>"

Mercedes tossed them a look, then went on. "<I'm in charge, and you two are acting like idiots!>"

Beth scoffed. "<Well, maybe if _someone_ would behave in a way that made _sense_ \-->"

"<What, like this?>" said Mercedes before pulling back a fist and sending it into Beth's face.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Tarzan glanced at…. _Waverly_ ….as they rode the vines, or at least as she rode them while Waverly clung on for dear life. Of all the ways her first meeting with another hoomin could have gone ( _or was it human?,_ she thought, remembering the many books in her parents house...books she might soon be able to actually understand), she hadn't expected the encounter to be so…. _warm_. 

For her part, Waverly looked to be having the time of her life. Despite the fear she was radiating, her blood pumping and mouth grinning told an even more honest story about how she felt about the experience.

(< _And maybe about me too?_ >)

Tarzan rolled her eyes at that. Yes, Waverly was definitely beautiful and smelled nice and had shiny skin and long hair and a calming voice and Tarzan wanted to never leave her side ever….but they had only just met. They hadn't even talked, really, although she did seem anxious to change that.

"There!"

Tarzan snapped herself out of her thoughts at Waverly's voice and landed in a tree, not too high off the ground. There was some crashing in the distance, and Tarzan lowered Waverly out of the tree before leaping down to join her. "Safe?" she asked, in Waverly's words.

Waverly chewed her lip. "Well...it should be. I don't think the others are--" Another loud noise interrupted Waverly, and then Tarzan heard some familiar screeching.

(< _Beth. Shit._ >)

"Wait," Tarzan instructed, and ran forward to see what was happening. Once she was in the clearing, it took her a moment to catch up.. Beth was screaming about being hit by Mercedes, Robin and Jer were shouting at them to stop, Tucker was grinning uselessly, and a bunch of things that Tarzan presumed were for Waverly's people to sleep in had been knocked over. "<Hey!>" she shouted, loud enough to draw attention. "<What's going on?>"

Mercedes, Beth, Tucker, Robin, and Jer all turned to look at her, shock on their faces. A second later the moment broke and Jer and Robin were both running over to her. "<Tarzan!>" screamed Jer. "<We were so worried!>"

"<Well, _he_ was,>" corrected Robin. "<I knew you'd be all right.>"

"<So worried!>" Jer hugged her tight. "<What happened? Was it Bobo? Did he come back somehow? Or a giant bird? Or-->"

"<Let the kid breathe, Jer,>" Mercedes interrupted. She looked oddly at Tarzan. "<What is that?>" she said, pointing at Waverly's shirt.

"<Well, it's….>" A branch broke behind her, and they all turned to see Waverly at the edge of the clearing. She seemed to be somewhere between shock and awe, and Tarzan smiled and said, "<It's from her, actually.>"

Slowly, Waverly walked forward, approaching the apes in the same way she had approached Tarzan earlier. Tarzan glanced back, and saw that while Tucker and Beth bore identical looks of rage, Mercedes seemed curious, or at least not hostile. Robin was munching on some nearby leaves and was almost ignorant of what was happening. As for Jer, he seemed incapable of movement.

"<Jer?>" she asked. "<You okay?>"

"<She's a you>," he said finally.

"<Yeah, a human. You wanna say hi?>"

Mercedes head turned. "<Human?>"

Tarzan shrugged. "<That's how she says it.>" 

"<You understand her?>"

"<....A little? Maybe one word in twenty.>"

Mercedes grunted and let the subject drop. Jer, meanwhile, was approaching Waverly. "Hello," she said. "I'm Waverly. I'm friends with your friend Tarzan."

Jer glanced back at Tarzan. "<What'd she say?>"

Tarzan chuckled. "<She said her name's Waverly and said hello. Say something back!>"

Jer nervously looked back to Waverly and tried to look nice and non-threatening. Before he could speak, a loud roar sounded in the clearing, and Tarzan turned and saw Kerchak stride purposefully into the clearing. "<So...still alive, then?>"

"<Kerchak, I-->"

"<Shut up.>" Kerchak walked further in and saw the mostly destroyed campsite and the wounded Beth. "<What happened here?>" he asked Mercedes.

"<Beth was being disobedient.>"

Kerchak growled low in his throat, and as he did Tarzan felt another presence at her side. "<Hi, dad.>"

Rendal put a hand on her shoulder. "<Have a good day, kid?>"

Tarzan risked a glance towards Waverly. Whatever awe she had felt earlier had been replaced by a fear so sharp it hurt. "<I had been…>"

Kerchak's head snapped up at the sound of their voices and he saw Waverly. His eyes narrowed as he strode toward her. "<Kerchak…>" said Tarzan, trying to get in front of him. "<Whatever you're thinking-->"

A fist shot out and sent Tarzan reeling. "<I told you to shut up.>" As Rendal helped Tarzan up, Kerchak leaned close to a shaking Waverly and screamed, "<Leave or die, hoomin!>" Tarzan winced at the threat. Even if Waverly didn't understand what he said, the meaning was pretty clear. Kerchak looked at the others and said, "<Come. We're leaving.>"

Without another word, he disappeared back into the jungle. Tucker and Beth followed him almost immediately, with Mercedes close behind. Robin got Jer moving, and soon it was just Rendal and Tarzan left. "<We have to go,>" he said.

"<I know,>" she responded. She moved to follow Rendal, but paused for one look back. Waverly was shaking, and scared, and upset. She looked about her and saw Tarzan looking at her. Tarzan raised a hand and gave her a sad smile, but Waverly did nothing but stare back at her with sad eyes that begged her to come back.

"<I'm sorry,>" she said softly. She turned and walked into the jungle, leaving Waverly behind.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jungle Notes:
> 
> Depending on the type of gun and conditions, a gunshot can be heard up to two miles away from its point of origin. Given that this is just a revolver in the empty jungle, I figure that sound would carry pretty good.
> 
> Speaking of, the revolver here is reflective of the one in the show, and that particular type of gun was first built in....................1957. Yup, the Buntline is a 20th century gun. More accurate would be the Colt Single Action Army Revolver, the first model in that line, but the long-barreled buntline is so iconic, so....eh.
> 
> Gorilla fights are _brutal._ You do not want to get in the middle of one, trust me on that.


	14. Warnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The humans and the apes learn about each other; Rosita makes a discovery; Tarzan makes a decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Happy Valentines Day!
> 
> In my head, this chapter and the first part of the next chapter were originally all one chapter. As I was writing, though, it began to feel more natural to end where it does and leave all the..."interactions"....to the next chapter.
> 
> Enjoy!

Rosita looked into the crate, a sour expression on her face. Inside it was a collection of metal rods and metal plates. In their current state, they didn't look like much, but if combined…

A loud roar sounded from close by. Very close. "We didn't leave anyone back at the camp, did we?" The assorted men looked at each other helplessly, and that was all the answer she needed. "Come on, help me move this to the treeline and cover it up."

"Whoa, lady, this isn't your pots and whatever. It belongs to Hardy," said one of the sailors, a gangly fellow with mutton chops, red hair, and a red neckerchief. "He's the only one to say what gets done with it."

Rosita looked at Red and resisted the urge to vomit at his tone. "Oh, is that right?"

Red grinned. "That's right."

Rosita smiled back innocently. "Well, in the case, we'll just…" Rosita trailed off and studied something on the crate. 

Red, ever the conversationalist, sighed. "What the hell are you playing at, girl?"

Rosita ignored that. "Do you see that?"

"See what?"

"There, on the box. It says something, but I can't quite read it. Can you?"

Red sighed and stepped forward. "Thought you were smart, girlie. Suddenly you can't read? What are you, stupid or something?"

"Oh, I can read," Rosita said, as Red bent next to her. She pointed at something on the shipping label.. "For instance, this first line here? It says…" Rosita grabbed Red by the neckerchief and yanked down  _ hard _ , crashing his chin into the box. "Don't…" She drew back her fist and pushed it forward into the dazed sailor's eye. "....call women…." As Red howled with pain, Rosita brought her head forward and into Red's nose, knocking him flat. "...stupid," she finished.

With an undignified and soft thud, Red collapsed into the sand. Rosita rolled her eyes and looked at the rest of the crewmen. "Anyone else have an objection?" The whole group was silent. "Good. Now shut your jaws and get hiding, then take care of your friend. I'll be back at camp seeing what got unleashed back there."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Waverly stared after where Tarzan and the gorillas had disappeared back into the jungle. Her grunts, her gestures, the way she moved….all had been perfectly mirrored in the way the gorillas interacted with each other, and with  _ her _ . She never would have thought it possible, but those gorillas seemed to treat Tarzan as one of their own.

Until…

Waverly shuddered at the memory of the last ape, the big one that had roared at her.  _ That _ one wasn't like the others. That one had commanded the attention of every other ape in the clearing….and of Tarzan. A leader if ever there was one….and not an especially kind one, by the looks of it. 

"Hello? Anyone there?"

Waverly turned at the sound of the voice and saw Rosita returning from the beach. "Rosi!" she nearly screamed. She pushed herself up off the ground and pulled the barmaid into an awkward hug. "Thank goodness you're alright!"

"Uh...yeah? Why wouldn't I be alright?"

"Because of the gorillas!" Waverly exclaimed.

"Is that what was roaring? I heard that from the beach."

"Yes! You see--"

"You little  _ freak! _ " shouted a familiar sisterly voice. "Have you been here this whole time? Henry and I have been searching the whole jungle for you!" 

Waverly turned and saw an angry Wynonna stomping toward her. Before she could scream something else, Waverly disentangled herself from Rosita and wrapped Wynonna in a hug of her own. She felt her older sister stiffen as she said, "Well...fine. Just don't do it again, okay?"

Behind Wynonna, someone cleared their throat and Champ said, "You know, I was helping too."

Wynonna let out a bark of laughter. "You were  _ there _ , Champ. That doesn't mean you actually  _ helped _ ."

"Excuse me," said Henry. "While I am glad that Miss Waverly has somehow returned to safety, there are some questions...namely, how did she return, and what has become of our campsite."

"That's what I was saying!" Waverly said excitedly. "Gorillas!"

Champ's eyes lit up. "Gorillas? Here? Which way did they go?"

Henry laid a hand on Champ's shoulder. "Easy, son. Let the lady talk."

"Right," said Waverly. "So, after we split up, the elephants were coming at us, and then suddenly I was picked up by this dirty naked woman -- like,  _ actually  _ dirty, not just rude-minded. Anyway, she rode the elephants for a bit, but then leapt off so we could patch each other up. Her name's Tarzan, and she can…. _ understand _ English, but doesn't really speak it. Anyway, she brought me back here, swinging across vines the whole way, and when we got here two gorillas were fighting, and then an even bigger one showed up and screamed at me, and then they all left together."

There was a stunned silence as Waverly finished speaking. Finally, Henry asked, "Rosita...did you see any of this?"

Rosita shrugged. "Well, we were seeing off the boat crew. Told the boys to take a break, and as for the rest...well, I definitely heard something screaming. Could have been a gorilla, I guess."

Henry nodded and bent low to the ground, then nodded. "Seems to add up. There's plenty of tracks around."

Wynonna, meanwhile, was staring at Waverly. "And what about the woman?"

"Tarzan?" Waverly's voice pitched upward as she said the name, her lips curving in a smile. "What about her?"

"Well, for starters….who is she, why is she here, and does she make a habit of stealing clothes from the people wearing them?"

"Huh?" Wynonna glanced downward, and Waverly suddenly remembered that she had given her shirt to Tarzan to cover up her breasts, leaving Waverly with nothing but a camisole. "Oh! I...gave it to her?"

Wynonna cringed and walked away. "Oh, barf, Waves. Just...barf."

"What? She was naked! I couldn't just let her walk around with her breasts so…. _ there _ ."

Wynonna turned and held up a hand. "Please don't talk to me about your jungle crush's breasts."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The gathered apes were chattering nervously. Kerchak had summoned them all for a meeting, and Tarzan was quite certain she knew what the topic was -- namely, the spot the hoomins -- no, the  _ humans _ \-- had claimed and what had happened there.

Beside her, Rendal looked over where Kerchak had hit her. "<Yeah, he definitely got you good,>" said the old ape. "<How does it feel?>"

"<Like a tree fell on me...and then kept falling on me at a very fast speed,>" she said, wincing as Rendal gingerly tested her. Kerchak's fist had gotten her right between her neck and arm, just above where Waverly had tied off her present, and the result -- in addition to sailing through the air -- had been an ugly injury as big as her hand. Her skin, as bright as Waverly's had been, was already turning a darker color, and if it was anything like other injuries she'd had would be that color for at least a week.

_ Waverly…. _ Tarzan smiled slightly at the memory of her. Rendal cocked his head to the side as he noticed it. "<What's that for?>"

Tarzan laughed. "<Oh, nothing,>" she said. "<Just-->"

"<Everyone.>"

Tarzan and Rendal stopped talking as Kerchak called for their attention from atop a nearby rockpile. "<I have spoken with Mercedes. She says that the hoomins have already set up shelters close to the big water. We don't know how many of them there are, but for now we will be moving further inland and avoiding this area entirely.>"

"<For how long?>" Tarzan heard herself ask.

Kerchak's head whipped to face her, but instead of attacking her he only said, "<For at least the next two moons. We don't know enough about them, but if they represent any danger to this family-->"

"<But they don't!>" shouted Tarzan. She felt Rendal's hand on her shoulder but pulled away and approached Kerchak. "<They're not dangerous! I spent all day with one and she was nothing but kind!>"

Kerchak came towards her. "<You spent all day with one.>"

Tarzan nodded, knowing she was probably getting herself banished again. "<Yes.>"

"< _ Just _ one?>"

She hesitated. "<...Yes.>" 

"<Oh, well, if  _ just one _ is good, then they all must be, right?>" Tarzan said nothing, but continued to stare in anger at Kerchak. He nodded, satisfied. "<The rule is final. Stay away from them, and protect this family…unless this isn't your family?>" 

Tarzan said nothing and dropped her eyes to the ground. Kerchak grunted satisfaction at her surrender and moved off, with the rest of the troop following after him. As she continued to stare at the ground, she felt two shapes beside her -- Jer and Rendal. Jer put his paw on her hand. "<You okay?>"

Tarzan nodded. "<Thanks for coming looking for me.>"

"<We were worried,>" said Rendal. "< _ I  _ was worried.>" Tarzan nodded and embraced the big ape, but her face was still frowning. "<So what are you doing?>"

"<Kerchak said we were to move inland, so…>"

Rendal shook his head. "<That's what that overblown mass of muscle is doing. I asked what  _ you _ were doing.>"

Tarzan turned and looked at him. "<What do you mean?>"

"<Well, the way I see it, you got two choices. You can stay with us and keep taking Kerchak's shit, even when he doesn't throw it at you, or….>" Rendal looked towards the beach.

Tarzan followed his gaze, then looked back at him. "<Or?>" 

Rendal nodded. "<Yeah. Or.>"

Tarzan looked towards where she knew Waverly was going to be, then back at her father and friend. "<It's crazy.>"

Rendal nodded. "<It is.>"

<Kerchak would kill me. Like, really kill me.>"

"<Probably.>"

< _ And _ you, maybe.>"

Rendal sighed. "<Honestly, he's been using that threat for so long, I'd be surprised if he's got the nuts.>"

A bewildered Jer looked between the two of them. "<Guys? What are we talking about?>"

Tarzan leaned over and hugged Jer. "<Don't do anything stupid while I'm away, okay?>"

"<Away? What-->"

She turned to Rendal. "<Watch over him, okay? I'll be back as much as I can, but…>"

Rendal nodded. "<But you need to know.>"

Tarzan nodded back. Rendal reached up and ran a hand through her hair. "<My girl…>" He leaned in and pulled her into a tight hug. "<Be careful.>"

Tarzan hugged him one last time, then turned and climbed a nearby tree. The journey from Waverly's nest (if that's what it was) had been long, and the time before all apes were assembled longer still. The big light….the  _ sun _ , according to Waverly...was already heading down. For tonight, she would rest and prepare herself. Then tomorrow…

Tarzan smiled softly as she lay between the tree branches and ran her fingers over Waverly's covering that she'd given Tarzan. A sheert, or something like that. "Sheert," she said, practicing the word. "Sheert. Sheert."

Something called in the distance, some hunting bird that had just found its dinner. Tarzan wondered where Waverly was and if she was thinking as much about Tarzan as Tarzan was about her. She looked towards the edge of the jungle, towards her destination and her...her human...and said, "I'm...here...Waverly."

Her declaration made, she closed her eyes, slept, and dreamed of hair as long as a waterfall that smelled like fresh fruit and shone like the sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jungle Notes:  
> There are a _lot_ of different beard types. It took some work and comparison, but I'm pretty sure the type of beard Red has in his canonical appearances in 101 and 102 is indeed called muttonchops, which was popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, though its prevalence faded once World War I started and people began needing to wear gas masks.
> 
> Behind the scenes:  
> There was originally going to be a bit where Tarzan got a little too confrontational with Kerchak and Kerchak ripped Waverly's shirt off of Tarzan in anger. As I was writing, though, it just didn't feel right, so I dropped it.
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day again! If you don't already follow me on Twitter, I'm @bmovies212


	15. Guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The human camp sees some departures...and an arrival

"What the hell do you mean 'short'?" shouted Wynonna.

The captain shrugged, her hair bouncing as she did so. "Don't know what to tell you, Miss Earp. We left port with a full load, and all of the client's packages have been removed, along with all of your stuff and Miss Waverly's and our other guests. The boys and I have been over the list twice."

Wynonna closed her eyes and put a hand to her throbbed head. "Shit," she said at last. "So where does that leave us?"

"If we leave now, we can catch a southern wind and be at Cape Town in a couple weeks. We'll resupply with what the man-child gave us, ration out what we have left -- which I suggest you all do, too -- and be back here in a month, hopefully."

Wynonna's shoulders fell. "A month?"

"A _month?_ "

Both Wynonna and the captain turned at that. The two women saw Hardy hurrying down the sand towards them, the wind apparently bringing the captain's words to his ear. "Hardy," said Wynonna through gritted teeth. "Lovely of you to join us."

Hardy ignored Wynonna and pushed right into the captain. "What the hell do you mean a month? I paid good money to--"

" _As I was saying_ ," the captain went on, "You all should have enough supplies to last, if you're careful. Still not sure where the last of our food boxes went, but--"

"Never mind that!" interrupted Hardy, and for a moment Wynonna wasn't sure who was going to hit him first -- her or the captain. "I'm missing some supplies of my own!"

Wynonna blinked. "What supplies?"

"A couple boxes that had some important materials I was planning on using."

A suspicion was suddenly born in Wynonna's mind. "Materials….like more guns?"

"Among other things, yeah."

"And," asked Wynonna, keeping her voice steady, "how exactly did you get these boxes onto the ship?"

Hardy shrugged. "Some of my boys back there. There wasn't room at first, but they made some."

The suspicion had grown from a mewling baby into a screaming teenager. "How?"

"Just took a couple boxes out and brought mine on."

Both the captain and Wynonna stared at Hardy, mouths agape. "You did _what?_ "

"What? I'm paying for all this. You think you won't be able to afford new dresses or makeup or whatever was in there with the money I'm giving you?"

Wynonna closed her eyes, tried to count to ten, made it to one, started over, failed again, and turned to the captain, speaking slowly. "Captain Andras," she said, her words almost coming out in a monotone. "I appreciate everything you have done and told me. Please do whatever you can to rectify the situation as quickly as possible."

"Yes, ma'am," said the captain. Without another word, she leaped into the nearby dinghy and headed for _Peacemaker_.

Behind Wynonna, Champ pawed at her shoulder. "What about my stuff?"

The teenager lashed out. Wynonna turned and drove a fist straight into Hardy's temple, knocking him to the ground. "You fucking _idiot!_ " she screamed. "Do you even realize what you've done? Idiot!"

"Huh?" 

Wynonna let out a scream of pure frustration. "Those boxes were the rest of our supplies, you idiot -- the food that we've been eating every day since we left England? Where the hell did you think it was coming from, huh?"

Hardy's mouth wavered. "The sea?" he guessed.

Wynonna stared at him. "You thought cheese...and bread...came from the sea."

Hardy appeared to think about this, then shrugged. "Yes?"

Wynonna shook her head and walked off, leaving Hardy standing in the dust.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Rosita stared from the treeline as Wynonna finished yelling at Hardy. _Well, she looks absolutely ecstatic_ , she thought. _Perfect time to maybe give her more bad news._ She blew out a breath to steady her nerves as the older woman approached. "Wynonna?"

"What?" The woman nearly screamed, and Rosita instinctively ducked back from the anger. Earp's expression softened when she saw who it was asking for her and her tone changed. "Sorry, Hardy was...did you want something?"

Rosita bit her lip. She _wanted_ to tell the woman in charge of this thing what Hardy was up to, but based on how she was feeling now, any fuel she added to the fire might result in her turning around and killing Hardy, and while that was a pleasant thought, it brought up a whole other mess of problems. Instead, Rosita shrugged and smiled. "Nothing that can't wait….which, judging by your mood after that meeting, we now have to?"

Wynonna laughed bitterly. "Yeah, Chump Hardhead down there took that line about the customer always being right and ran it into the ground...or the ocean, I guess." She laughed again. "Fucking Selfridge…"

Rosita stepped closer to her. "What happened?"

"Well, Chump had some extra stuff he wanted to bring along--"

"More guns?"

"Probably. Anyway, he apparently couldn't have his boys fit it in the hold, so he took it upon himself to declare some of our supplies -- and I promise, he did _not_ use this word -- extraneous."

Rosita frowned. "So….

"So he left them on the dock, or tossed them in the ocean, or sold them to whatever shithole bar he gets drunk at, and now we're here an extra month while our captain makes an emergency trip to refill our stores." Wynonna stopped ranting picked up a rock, and threw it into the jungle as hard as she could.

Rosita's lips quirked in a small smile. "Careful," she said. "You might hit Waverly's girlfriend."

Wynonna turned her death stare on her. "Not the time, Rosie."

"Okay, you're right. Sorry. Look…" she said, speaking calmly. "I have some good news and some bad news."

"Oh, wonderful. What else--"

"The good news," Rosita plunged ahead, "is that your stuff is still in one piece and just sitting on the dock, most likely."

Wynonna blinked. "How could you _possibly_ know that?"

"Got here early on sailing day to check out the kitchen, remember?"

"Not really."

"You were shouting a lot. There was a bottle of something in your hand."

"That doesn't exactly narrow it down, and now I'm thirsty hearing you talk about me with a bottle."

" _Anyway_ ," Rosita went on. "I didn't exactly see any suspicious offloading, but I didn't hear any big splashes as stuff got dunked, so they're more than likely waiting for us at the dock for when we return."

"In two months."

"Yeah, well...it's better than nothing, and also I can promise that he did not sell it to the so-called shithole bar he drinks at."

"Yeah? How?" Rosita just stared at her and cocked an eyebrow. "Ah….right." The brunette sighed. "Okay, so the supplies are probably back in England and either rotting or getting redistributed. Brilliant," growled Wynonna. "So if that's the good news, what's the bad?"

Rosita took a breath and exhaled slowly. "Well….bad might be pushing it, but...it's Waverly."

Wynonna frowned. "What about her?"

"She's at camp, and...well, it's easier if I just show you."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Henry watched with amusement as Waverly tore through the campsite. "Perhaps if you told me what you were searching for, I could help?" he offered.

"No, no, it's definitely -- ah- _ha!_ " She leaned into a box half as tall as herself and dug around in it. "With everything that happened yesterday, we haven't really gotten to unpack most of our stuff, but one thing I wanted to bring was…." She pulled herself out of the box and when she did, she was holding a thick notepad and grinning.

Henry's mouth twitched in a smile. "I didn't realize you had been touched with the artistic gene, Miss Waverly."

"I don't know about _that_ ," said Waverly. "Mostly, it's for me to use as….a diary, I suppose. Making little observations about things and solving mysteries."

"A regular Sherlock Holmes." Henry chuckled.

Waverly smiled. "I guess. I never really wanted to be a lawperson or anything, though." Waverly's eyes shifted as she looked at him. "Not like Grandpa Wyatt."

"Fair enough, I suppose...I can't imagine wanting to choose a life like that. Thirty seconds at the OK Corral, though...in the right circumstances -- or even the wrong ones -- well, that would change a person's plans."

"Mm-hmm," said Waverly noncommittally. She looked at Henry for a long moment, her pencil idly tracing something. "That was his big moment, wasn't it?"

"So they say."

Waverly nodded and continued drawing whatever she was drawing. Finally, she asked, "Who are you, Henry? Really?"

"Ma'am?"

"You talk with an American accent….and not just any accent, but a Southern one. You say you and Rosita are married, but neither of you has a ring. You accompany Champ on this trip to another continent, but based on what I've seen and heard you can barely stand him. And now, the way you talk about Grandpa Wyatt…" 

Henry stopped and stared at her. "How do I talk about Wy….him?"

"Like that," she said. "Like you knew him, but you're ashamed of that fact...and considering who he was back then, being ashamed of him makes no sense."

Henry stared coolly at her. "Well, that is a very interesting theory, Miss Earp, but I can assure you that Wyatt Earp never knew me."

Waverly sighed. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter now anyway." Waverly turned a page in the book and for just a moment, Henry saw a glimpse of his own face, but younger. "There's a bigger mystery than you, anyway."

"Oh?"

Waverly nodded. "Her." She tilted her head and Henry took the invitation. On the notepad, Waverly was already drawing a rough sketch of who he could only assume was the mysterious jungle woman that the young lady had said saved her yesterday. Her hair stretched to below her waist, and though her form was that of an animal, crouched low to the ground, Henry could already see the intelligence Waverly was putting into her. He nodded at the picture. "She's lovely, whoever she is."

"And strong, and kind, and... _good_ ," finished Waverly. She stared at the picture with a smile...one Henry recognized from his youth. 

"Well," he said slowly, "If she's as real as you say, I imagine meeting her again will be quite--"

Something leapt out of the trees towards the camp. Instinctively, Henry reached for his belt and fired a shot off, but whatever it was was already past him. The shape landed behind him and Waverly gasped as he turned and saw... _her_. She crouched there before him with dirty hair that was the color of the Arizona sunset, her well-defined muscles standing out. Intelligent brown eyes stared back at him above a mouth that had a constant smile, as though this was all the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her.

"--extraordinary," he finished, putting his gun away.

"Champ?" said the woman. She crouch-walked next to him, sniffed him once, then shook her head. 

"My name is Henry, miss," he said. "And you are?"

"Tarzan!" came a cry from Henry's right. He turned and saw Waverly with her hands over her mouth, and Tarzan was bounding over to her, happy as a child. Waverly knelt down next to the woman and immediately began checking her body over, stopping after a minute. "Oh, thank god," she said, relief evident in her face. "You're not hurt." Waverly's face turned towards Henry, and the relief was replaced with rage. "What the _hell_ were you doing?"

"Well, I assumed we were under attack!" explained Henry.

"Attack from _what?_ "

"Now Miss Waverly, you saw how she entered the camp. That is not the way one normally approaches strangers."

"She doesn't know any better, Henry," said Waverly. Her voice calmed and she went back to looking over Tarzan. "She doesn't know about guns, or humanity, or….any of it, really." She looked into the woman's eyes, and said, "She's just... _pure_."

The woman smiled at Waverly, and hooted something. Waverly smiled back at her and took Tarzan's hands in her own, getting down on her knees so they were eye level. "What have you seen?" asked Waverly quietly.

"Waverly," answered Tarzan, and both women smiled.

A scream sounded from nearby and the moment was interrupted by a head of wild brown hair attached to a reckless body slamming into Tarzan and tackling her to the ground. "Alright, spill!" shouted Wynonna. "Who the hell are you and what do you want with my sister?"

"Wynonna, stop!" shouted Waverly. "That's--" 

Before she could finish explaining, Tarzan had grabbed Wynonna and rolled over, switching their positions. Wynonna's arms failed, and one of her hands found Tarzan's hair. She yanked, and the woman's head was brought low enough for Wynonna to bring her own head up and slam it into Tarzan's nose, sending the jungle woman reeling.

"Guys!" Waverly shouted, trying to get their attention. "That's enough!" 

"Not now, Waves!" shouted Wynonna. "This bitch kidnapped you, and I aim to find out why!" Tarzan let out a sound and started to relax, but then Wynonna was charging again. Tarzan saw her coming and jumped just in time, leaving Wynonna to go crashing into the side of one of the tents and get tangled in it. A bunch of cursing came from the tent, followed by, "Yeah, take that! I'll get you!"

"Wynonna," said Waverly.

"Just one second, Waves! I've almost got her! We'll get some answers soon!"

Despite the situation, Waverly giggled. "Wynonna," she tried again. "You're fighting the tent."

"Huh?" The tent stopped thrashing and a five-foot-something shape stood in the middle of it. The shape sighed and disentangled itself from the cloth, revealing a dirty but relatively decent looking Wynonna. Beside her, Waverly felt Tarzan tense again, and Waverly instantly grabbed Tarzan's hand to reassure her. 

It worked. Waverly saw the fight go out of Wynonna as she looked at Tarzan and let out a breath. "She's a good fighter, I'll give her that. Owes me a tiebreaker, though." The older woman knelt down next to Tarzan and studied her. "So...you're Tarzan, huh?"

"Wynonna," said Tarzan, putting a hand on Wynonna's shoulder. Wynonna's eyes widened and she looked at Waverly. "She knows my name?"

"I...may have let it slip after we got separated."

"Yeah, that must have been fun. You're getting to know Monkey Mama here and me and Champ and Henry are searching the whole forest for you."

"Champ," said Tarzan, her face turning sour. She shook her head and frowned.

Wynonna laughed, delighted. "Okay, I take it back. She's got great taste and I love it." She stopped laughing and saw Rosita and Champ entering the clearing, no doubt wondering what all the shouting had been about. "So what are you gonna do with Simian Sue here, Waves?"

Waverly looked back at Tarzan and ran her fingers through the woman's long red hair. "She's been alone for years, Wynonna, with just monkeys to raise her, but somehow she still understands English enough to pick it up after minimal exposure."

"Yeah..." said Wynonna. "And?"

"She needs help, Wyn. Between all of us and the books in my crate, we can teach her, communicate with her…"

"Really, Wave?" Wynonna looked at Tarzan doubtfully. "I don't wanna crush your dreams or nothing, but this isn't some little kid. This is a full-grown woman. You really think you can get her talking?"

Waverly felt something squeeze her hand and saw that Tarzan was still holding it. The redhead (not counting years of jungle grime) was looking up at her with the biggest eyes Waverly had ever seen on a creature that wasn't a dog with an expression that said they already trusted her completely. The bigger hand squeezed Waverly's smaller one again, and Waverly smiled back at her and turned to Wynonna.

"Absolutely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Selfridge Wynonna refers to is Henry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge's Department Store in London and the believed originator of the phrase "the customer is always right"
> 
> The travel distance by boat from London to Lagos, Nigeria, is 4629 nautical miles. From Lagos to Cape Town, it's another 2914 nautical miles. I might have played loose with the total time frame -- after all, the journey down to where they are took just over two weeks -- and we're not _exactly_ in Nigeria, but it's probably close enough.
> 
> Also, that captain was totally named after someone I saw listed in the phone book or on buzzfeed or something.😊😊😊
> 
> Finally, as a treat, RHappy256 on Twitter drew this version of Tarzan, and I kinda dig it. Check it out https://twitter.com/RHappy256/status/1363720246444527622?s=19


	16. Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly and the group discuss what's to be done with Tarzan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW EARP DAY, EVERYBODY! Was really hoping I'd be able to have something to post on the day our beloved shitshow returns to us. Looks like I pulled it off! Can't wait to see what Emily has in store for us!
> 
> On a more serious note, I want to put a small trigger warning for Champ and how he views Tarzan, which is.....not well. Just know that he's a rich asshole and that his views are not shared by the group, as will become clear.

For such an expensive hunting trip, Champ was not having a whole lot of fun.

Strike that. He wasn't having  _ any _ fun, because for there to be fun, there needed to be hunting, and thanks to Waverly discovering some feral woman living in the jungle, the focus has now shifted from him bagging a legendary beast to saving and re-educating some simple minded (and admittedly hot; he did have eyes, after all) cretin for…..what? Profit? Were they supposed to make money off of helping people?

Insane. That's what it was. Completely and utterly insane.

Worse than the insanity of the Earp's cause (or whatever) was the fact that they had co-opted  _ his _ time to do it in. After all, he had given them a lot of money to finance this trip, and to abandon it all to help fix some broken jungle woman was just  _ wrong _ . 

Disgusted, Champ stormed out of his tent. Something was cooking over a nearby fire, and if he were in a better mood, he might sample some of what Rosi had...and maybe get breakfast, too. As it was, though….he looked around and saw the rest of the camp waking up. Waverly was already up and about and fussing over her pet vagrant. Her sister was…. _ somewhere _ ….and as for Henry, he was over by the fire, digging into whatever Rosita had prepared for breakfast. 

With a sigh, Champ walked over to the fire. "Good morning, James," Henry offered. Champ grunted and sat down. Henry allowed him a moment, and asked, "In a bit of a mood, are we?"

"What gave it away? The lack of hunting or the presence of…." He waved his hand in the general direction of Waverly and her pet, only to be surprised by the two looking back at him, all smiles. The pet raised its own hand in response, as though returning a wave.

"Everything okay, boys?" asked Rosita, joining them. She sat down on Henry's other side with a plate of her own.

"Hi, Rosi," Champ said with a grin. "You bring that for me?"

"In your dreams,  _ puta _ ." Rosita held the plate closer and began devouring its contents. 

Undeterred, Champ went on. " _ Puta _ , huh? Is that Mexican for baby? Darling? Man of my dreams?"

"Sure," said Rosita with a glance heavenward.

"James," said Henry before Champ could answer. "You seem absolutely despondent, if I may say. Might I inquire as to the reason for your upset?"

"Huh?" 

Beside Henry, Rosita laughed. "He's asking why you're so pissed off,  _ bendejo _ ."

"Oh." Champ looked over to Waverly's pet and pointed. " _ That _ ."

Henry and Rosita followed his finger. "Her?"

Champ nodded. "We came here to hunt, and instead…." Champ shook his head. "Waste of money."

"You know," said Henry, "I've found myself deterred a few times, and trapped somewhere I didn't want to be a few more. Maybe just take a walk, clear your head...you'll think of a way to pass the time."

Champ stared at him, trying to determine if the man was joking or not. When Henry said nothing more, Champ got up and stomped off in a random direction. He glanced to his left and saw the woman staring at him as though he had stepped in something. Beside her, Waverly was saying something -- probably trying to teach the national anthem or something -- so he tuned her out, grabbed a book from a nearby pile, and went down to the beach to pick out a comfortable spot to wait for the ship to return.

_ Stupid country _ , he thought angrily.  _ Stupid country, stupid crew, stupid monkeygirl…  _ He looked at the book he had grabbed and saw "Property of Waverly Earp" embossed on the cover. Beside it, in faded pen scratches, Champ could just make out the letters  _ PUT IT BACK, WYNONNA _ .

A slow grin formed on Champ's face. Henry had said to find a way to pass the time, after all. He turned to the first page and began to read.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Okay, everyone! Can you all come over here please? I really don't want to shout!"

For all her effort, Waverly may as well have just stayed quiet. Henry and Rosita were still sitting by the fire. Champ had gone off to the beach to sulk. Wynonna still hadn't come out of her tent. Tarzan was with her and looked up at her call, but when nothing further came, she went back to examining the board Waverly had set up with her plan.

"Okay, enough waiting," she muttered. She marched purposefully over towards Wynonna's tent and pulled it open. There lay her sister, snoring in blissful ignorance of Waverly's schedule for the day.

Waverly felt a tug on her pants leg and saw Tarzan beside her. "Wynonna?" she asked. 

Waverly smiled down at her. "Yes, Wynonna." She sighed. "I was hoping we could all go over our plan on what to do, but…" Waverly went inside and found one empty whiskey bottle while another hung open over the side of the cot, held perfectly by Wynonna's sleeping hand. She sighed and began picking up the bottles. 

"Waverly?" Waverly turned and saw Tarzan staring at her, a puzzled expression on her face.

"She's still asleep," Waverly said, gesturing at Wynonna. "And given she was drinking, chances are good she'll be out for a while." Waverly sighed and went further into the tent. Nothing seemed grossly out of place, although Wynonna had left her trunk open. She leaned into it and pulled out one of Wynonna's shirts. Her and Tarzan were both about the same size. Maybe…

A loud howl came from behind her, and Waverly jumped and whirled to see Tarzan flying through the air towards her. She screamed and ducked, but the impact never came. Instead, Tarzan landed on the bed and was shaking both it and Wynonna while shouting, "Nona! Nona! Nona!"

The hand holding the bottle let it fall and came up to smack Tarzan's head. In the next second, Wynonna pushed herself and Tarzan onto the floor and immediately spread Tarzan's arms and held them splayed out. "Three-two, lady. That's my win."

Waverly cleared her throat loudly. "If you two are done wrecking the tent  _ again _ , we need to go over the plan for what to do."

"Plan?" asked both Wynonna and Tarzan, causing the two to look at each other.

"Yes," said Waverly. "We've got nearly a month left here, so we have to figure out a plan of attack." She picked up the half-empty bottle and dropped it in Wynonna's lap. "I'm set up by the fire. Grab some breakfast. I'll see you over there." With a quick hug for her sister, Waverly turned and walked out, but not before she heard Wynonna ask, "You want some?" followed a few seconds later by a spat of coughing from Tarzan and laughter from Wynonna. She shook her head and walked back over to the firepit, where Henry and Rosita both had concerned looks on their faces. "Everything alright over there?" asked the latter.

"Peachy-keen," said Waverly. "Wynonna just needed a little help waking up." She hummed softly to herself, and soon enough, Wynonna came over, looking much more awake. She had another bottle with her and was smiling.  _ Uh-oh… _ "Hey, Wyn?"

"Yeah?" 

"Where's--" A noise came from behind one of the trees and Waverly glared at her sister. She rounded the turn and saw Tarzan, low to the ground as ever and a string of vomit hanging from her lip. 

"Waveree!" The woman leapt at her for the second time that morning and held her tightly. She pressed their foreheads together, looked into Waverly's eyes, and said, "You….pretty. Me...like." Tarzan grinned at this proclamation -- the first thing close to a full sentence Waverly had heard from her -- and promptly collapsed at Waverly's feet.

"Wynonna!" Waverly yelled, and bent over to help the woman. A soft snoring came from her mouth as Waverly looked around for something to wipe her mouth with.

"Waverly!"

Waverly turned and saw Henry and Rosita approaching behind her, with Wynonna not far off. The old man was offering his handkerchief to her, and Waverly took it gratefully. She dabbed at the corner of Tarzan's mouth to clean away the offending drool as a voice above her said, "Wow, I really thought she'd take that better."

Waverly scowled at her sister. "What did you do, Wynonna?"

"Nothing!" Wynonna stepped back and raised her hands in surrender. "I swear!"

"She's barely conscious! I left you alone with her for  _ five minutes… _ "

"Look, all I know is I took a swig of whiskey to help wake up, she looked at me with those puppy eyes, I asked if she wanted some, and she drank half the bottle! Girl's kind of a lush, honestly." Wynonna sounded almost proud as she said this.

Waverly narrowed her eyes. "And  _ what _ was in the bottle?"

"I told you, whiskey."

Henry bent over and examined Tarzan. "Don't think I've ever seen just whiskey do that to someone. You, Rosita?"

"Not unless they're allergic, no," agreed Rosita.

Waverly gasped. "Allergic!?"

"Relax, Waves," said Rosita. "If she was allergic to whatever she had, she'd be gasping for breath, and her face would be red, and….um…" Rosita trailed off as she saw the panic on Waverly's face. "I mean, she has none of that and is probably definitely fine."

Henry leaned over the girl and took a sniff. "What'd you say she had, Miss Earp?"

Wynonna scoffed. "You know, you can just call me Wynonna, Henry, since we're gonna be living together for a month and all." Wynonna took another drink. "Also, whiskey."

"What kind of whiskey?"

"The Wynonna kind."

Henry held out his hand for the bottle, a question in his eyes. Wynonna shrugged and handed it over, and he took a swig and immediately coughed and grabbed his head, dropping the bottle. "Thunderation!" he cried. He coughed again and looked Wynonna straight in the eye. "That was  _ not  _ whiskey."

"Sure it was."

Henry folded his arms across his chest. "And what, pray tell, was this 'Wynonna whiskey' composed of?"

"Just whiskey," she said. Under Henry's continued glare, Waverly's worried eyes, and Rosita's amused grin, though, she faltered and added, "...and some other things."

Tarzan was starting to come back around, and both her and Waverly looked up at her. "What other things?" said Waverly.

"Uh….bourbon, mainly. Also a red wine, and a little bit of champagne, too."

Rosita actually laughed. "Champagne?"

Wynonna shrugged. "I like the bubbles."

Rosita grinned. "Who doesn't?"

"Well, bubbles or no," said Henry, "I believe we have our answer -- a first-time drinker consuming something not even a professional would try without caution." He turned back to Waverly and Tarzan. "Is she alright?"

Waverly glanced up at him, then looked at Tarzan. "Tarzan?" she asked softly. "Are you….can you stand?" 

Tarzan's eyes rolled as she turned to look at Waverly, then clutched at her head. A groan came from the woman's mouth, and Waverly made shushing noises and kissed her head, as though comforting a wounded child. "There, it's okay….Wynonna's sorry she gave you that bad water--"

"I am?"

Waverly shot her sister a look, and Wynonna raised her hands and shut her mouth. She then looked at Henry. "Henry, can you help me get her into a bed?"

Henry nodded and stepped forward, but Tarzan backed further into the bush. Henry stopped moving, and so did Tarzan. "She seems to prefer the bush, Miss Waverly."

Wynonna snorted at his words but said nothing. Waverly sighed. "Wynonna, give me your coat."

"Why?"

"Just….she needs a pillow, okay? Will you stop arguing?"

"Okay, okay, geez." Wynonna shrugged out of her jacket and folded it up into a pillow shape before stepping forward and tucking it under Tarzan's head. "Sorry, kid," she whispered, and Waverly squeezed her sister's hand in gratitude. Wynonna smiled and cleared her throat. "So," she ventured, keeping her voice low. "You said something about a plan or something?"

Waverly nodded. "Look, we've all seen how smart and adaptable she is. I really think we have a shot at doing this."

"Yeah, but how?" asked Rosita. "I mean, we might be smart, but we're not exactly purveyors of higher education."

"We don't need to be," said Waverly. "We just need to be willing to try. She already speaks English--" Henry cleared his throat loudly. "Fine," she amended. "She has some understanding of English. That's still a good start point. I can go over the language and words with her...probably wouldn't take nearly as long as it would if we were starting from scratch. Rosita can help clean her up and get her walking like a….well…."

"A human?" said the bartender with a touch of sarcasm.

Waverly smiled slightly at that, then tuned to Henry. "Henry, you must know some stuff that could help her out. A man as….experienced at life as--" 

"You can say old, Waverly, I do not mind it. As for teaching, though….what would you have me do? Show her how to run a bar and shoot a gun?"

"Well…..no, but...what did you do as a young man?"

"I was a dentist, for a time."

"Ah. Well…" Waverly tried to think of an end to that thought. "We'll think of something."

Henry raised a skeptical eyebrow at that, but said nothing.

"What about me?"

Waverly turned and saw her sister staring plantitively at her. It wasn't the usual brash sister, though. Now it was the kind and caring sister that had kept Waverly calm and sane in the years after their mother had left. "You do what you do best, Wynonna."

"Drink and cause trouble?"

"No, silly," said Waverly. "You help me."

"Oh," said Wynonna. She looked down at the sleeping Tarzan and laid a hand on her head. "Okay then, Waves. Let's do it." She laughed slightly. "I mean, how hard could it be?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't (do) tell Champ, but puta is actually the Spanish word for prostitute, and it is specifically female. Makes it even funnier that Rosita is calling Champ that, eh? (Wait, does it? Please say it does.)
> 
> When learning a new language, it's widely thought to take 480 hours or so to master it. At a rate of eight hours a day, that translates to sixty days of study. Good thing Tarzan's got a small head start....
> 
> Symptoms of alcohol poisoning or allergy include nausea, shortness of breath, mental confusion, aggression, lack of restraint, flushing or redness of the skin, and dehydration. It can take as little as a tablespoon's exposure to reveal an allergy. Of course, given what Wynonna made her "whiskey" with....
> 
> Speaking of that, I didn't really follow any sense or logic with determining what Wynonna would combine. Just threw in whatever and decided what would work.. what do you think? Does it sound very Wynonna? Too much so? Not enough?
> 
> Finally, I hope you enjoyed my references to a few specific season two moments.


End file.
